Hit The Stage!
by TheDork2life
Summary: If you die, you gotta take it with stride. Unluckily for me, there wasn't much of a bright side when you're waking up in a different body and being forced to become the pirate king. Ah, well... I guess I don't have a choice, right? With no pain, there's no gain! (Self Insert)
1. The Game of Life

**Welcome to… **

**HIT THE STAGE! **

**Chapter 1: The Game of Life**

* * *

_Flashing. Blaring. Memories bubbled up as I swam through darkness. Fingers numb, and blood running cold, nothing but a desolate emptiness consoled me. There were once sounds of shattering and screaming, and pain swelling all over my body. But now it seemed like the opposite. A lonely, quiet place, stripped of all sensation. _

_As it was, how could I even conjure up my consciousness? Blurred out with these fuzzy memories of a good, but meaningless, life. Was it possible that those were my memories? But, how mundane it was, up until the very last second, now stained in red. How could it be that was all of my existence, reduced to nothing but a pile of ripped up flesh on the side of the street? Watching my pathetic little body rot like I wanted so badly years before I ended up like that? _

_Why was I here now? Thinking of this all, not knowing where my body stopped and started, like my limbs were a mile away from me, but my heartbeat was right in my ears. _

_It was a scary sort of solitary, not one that I ever knew before. I at least had the conscience that humans existed with me, besides me, even if it didn't feel like it, but now… I knew, I was truly alone. Having died, was I now in the afterlife, going to float along an endless expanse where my existence meant even _less _than it did before? Was all my suffering for nought? Was all that I could manage to love, lost? _

_No… no, that was wrong. I could feel it. _

_The slight, tickling feeling of a tangible form, tugging on me. If I focused on it, it was there, and somehow it meant more to me than anything else. _

_"This is not your time here, yet."_

_No it wasn't. Slowly, I could pull myself together, seeing my life play before me like a film reel, spinning and flickering. I could breathe in and out, feel my chest rising with a growing warmth. _

_"That was not your world to conquer."_

_Maybe it wasn't. If I wanted to leave so bad, I should've been glad to realize I was finally gone. Yet clearly, I still had places to go. A life to live that would be more fulfilling than what I would have ever achieved. I knew it so because I could reach out, letting myself search for that precious feeling. _

_"You may lose yourself, but, did you even find such a thing in the first place?"_

_I know I didn't. Me. Myself. I could never figure out who that was. Straining so hard to keep everyone around me happy, to sacrifice myself for them, because I could. I had to. Over and over I would watch myself be walked on, yet I wanted to keep the hope I could change, that I _would _change. _

_"Go. This will be your chance to live. Your first and last."_

_Reaching out, I felt a wave of sensation flood my body, so warm and beautiful against the cold darkness. Wrapping my shaking hands around a little bead of light, I prayed for the first time in my life. I cried silently, an indescribable emotion taking me over as the blackness faded out into a blissful white, knowing that I too would fade away. Nothing would be left of my past life, all whisked away peacefully, and I would continue on. Fate had its new plans for me. _

_"The stage is yours."_

•

The first thing I felt when I woke up was warmth. Warmth, like the sun beating down on you on a summer day, relentless and furious. The second thing I felt when I woke up, was the extremely _stiff _floor beneath me. Stiff like concrete with not a single article of padding to soften the rough edge. The third thing I felt when I woke up was a _fuck _ton of confusion. Confusion like _ohmygodjesusithinkidiedandreincarnatedohmygod _and other similar lines of thought.

I don't think it would come to much of a surprise I jumped into a panic attack the second my eyes opened.

Sitting up in an… somewhat orderly fashion, I took note of the fact that I was in the middle of the god damn ocean on a small boat. That wasn't very good for reassurance, for sure, but there _had _to be a silver lining to all of this, right? There was a perfectly logical and reasonable explanation for all of this, and I was so certain that this was limbo. Or maybe this was like a game, and I had just spawned in. But, I was still on my planet, right? Had I gone back in time? Was I some voyager from the sixteen hundreds going to "discover" a new land?

My eyes flickered along the horizon line, observing there was no land in sight, adding to my doubling anxiety. I hoped _so _bad I didn't end up in the middle of the pacific ocean or some garbage, yet everything told me otherwise.

I had to calm myself down though, already feeling the extraneous activity making me sweat in this unclouded heat. So, I took to looking at myself instead. After all, it'd probably do me some good to know who the hell I was, if I wasn't still me. God forbid it was me.

It was pretty easy to deduce that, yeah, it wasn't my old body. Aside from the very obvious difference in body type, my clothes were a bit too showy for me and when I spoke, my voice most certainly wasn't my own. My hair was darker, my skin more calloused, and I wasn't wearing thicker-than-a-brick glasses. Honestly, I'd consider this an upgrade already, but I knew I still didn't know everything. I couldn't see my reflection, and based on the development of my body, I obviously wasn't any younger than a teen, but no older than mid twenties.

There was something so odd though. My clothes, my body, the scenery just seemed so… _familiar_. Like it was something I had seen before, but different.

Clicking my tongue, I took the hat I had on my head off to see what that also looked like, only to stop immediately. I blinked a fair few times, twisted it in my hand, and then went back to staring, all my previous observations adding up in my brain like a super quantum computer. Then, I broke down and became the Windows XP blue screen, equipped with static sparks and all.

"Oh you've _got _to be fucking kidding me," is all I could manage out of my mouth.

And I mean seriously. _Seriously? _Like, did the gods expect me to take reincarnation into a _damn anime _lightly? Did they think "oh _yeah _this human will be the perfect little sacrifice as our experiment to see how a _normal human being _will behave in an insanity driven universe"? Or was I just being crazy?

Or was it the fact I was more likely than not, Monkey D. Luffy?

Before I caused myself any more panic attacks or strokes or anything of that ilk, I took that possibility with a grain of salt. Maybe this was all just a _huge _coincidence. This straw hat, this red vest? Anyone could wear this! But… I realized, if I really wanted to test my theory out, the greatest test of all would be to stretch my skin.

Before I could even attempt to do that though, the boat rocked and creaked. Thankfully, I was still sitting down, but I still held on to the sides for balance, wondering what was going on.

Looking back out to the ocean, my stomach dropped at just the most _uplifting _sight of a whirlpool beginning to swallow me whole. I frantically glanced around my boat, hoping that maybe there would be something here that could help me, but alas, all that remained for me was simply a barrel. A barrel that may have saved Luffy's ass in canon, but sure as hell didn't make me feel any better.

I crawled over to the barrel, taking off the lid carefully and looking in to the empty wood, gulping.

"I swear to all that is holy this better work, or I'm suing the universe," I said, climbing in with little faith and shutting the lid as tight as possible.

All that was left for me was a waiting game, as I felt myself get thrown overboard and continued swirling around. It made me ponder how monumentally screwed I was. If this were the plans fate had for me, well, fate could suck my dick! How could I, a normal person from a normal world, travel around into the Grand Line? How could I believe I was supposed to become the King of Pirates? How could I survive in a world that wasn't built for someone like me, someone weak, small, and frightened?

Maybe… just maybe fate was right. I could doubt myself all I wanted, but it wouldn't change anything. I was now living this life. It wouldn't do me any good to die after just being pulled from the afterlife, that would make me a bigger disappointment than my measly existence from before. I knew I had to suck it up or… succumb to the existential crisis that would inevitably follow me for the rest of my journey.

Feeling my barrel getting pulled up and tossed around for a while, I waited until I was finally stable and alone, making sure the coast was clear.

Hesitantly, I opened the lid of the barrel and poked my head out, checking that nobody was around. When I felt sure I was alone, I climbed out, stood up, and dusted myself off, knowing I was now in a dangerous place.

The room I was in seemed to be some sort of kitchen, with food on the table and a wheelbarrow of stuff that my barrel knocked over. All in all, it was pretty simple, but I wanted to keep looking around, seeing if maybe I could find something useful.

"I could always swipe some knives or… maybe some other things," I mused out loud, walking over to where all the utensils were.

I picked one up, glancing over the blade. It was smaller, could fit in your pocket. "But, these _are _for cooking, not for fighting…" I cleaned and shoved it in my pocket anyway, thinking it would do me better to have some sort of method of defense than not.

I was just going to turn around and explore some other part of the room, when I turned and came face to face with a little pink haired boy in the doorway. Face white as a sheet and fingers trembling like he was burned.

"W-w-who are-!" Koby started shouting.

Ho boy, I couldn't have him outing my location so fast, now could I? So I rushed over, slapping a hand on his mouth while he struggled in my grip.

"SHHHHSHHHH!" I quickly hushed, trying to keep my grip loose, "please, I'm not going to hurt you, just… be quiet. I'm uh, I know there are pirates here, I _can't _be caught."

Slowly, I let my hand go and Koby nodded with a gulp, still shaking. "Who are you? How'd you get here?" he asked in a quieter tone, still obviously afraid of me.

Since there was no point in lying to him, I pointed to the barrel, saying, "I got picked up out of that barrel. See, I'm a bit stranded as of right now, I didn't intend for this to happen, _but_ now it's happening." I sighed. "I don't suppose there's any way for us to get out of here safely?"

Koby shook his head. "N-No, probably not. The pirate crew that's raiding this place is searching every inch! I-It'd probably be best to wait it out…"

I hummed, looking back behind me again and realizing the pantry was right there. Considering this was nothing more than a kitchen, if anybody came in here they'd likely just skim it over and realize there wasn't anything of value.

"Good thinking, actually," I complimented, "we can probably hide in there for a little while." I pointed to the pantry.

Koby paused, looking down. "W-w-well, I'm uh, I'm actually part of the pirate crew… I won't get hurt, b-but you can hide! I'll tell them there's nothing here!" he exclaimed, expression guilty.

"_Really_?" I questioned, "are you sure you won't get hurt?"

"I-I uh-" he started, only to be cut off once more as we heard voices down the hall.

Fear ran down my spine, that stupid incessant emotion that loved to make me lock up and freeze. I guess I didn't have much of a choice if I wanted to hide or not, so I grabbed Koby by the arm and pulled him into the pantry as quick as possible. Despite his explicit desire to _not _do this, we slid against the wall anyway, hoping that whomever it was that came down the hall would skip over this little room in the room.

"Why'd you pull me in with you?!" Koby whisper shouted, confused but not mad.

I pursed my lips. "I dunno, actually. But who cares, you _obviously_ need to get the fuck away from these pirates, so uh consider this a favour," I joked, making him sweatdrop. His skittish attitude kept rubbing off on me, doubling my nervousness despite my attempts to shove it down a ditch.

The pink-haired faux pirate twiddled his thumbs. "I… I can't just hide here, they'll look for me. I-If they find out I'm hiding, then I'll get in even worse trouble. Alvida-sama will kill me! Or if I try to run away, or- or-!"

Though I was in a rough situation myself, I couldn't help but feel bad for him, knowing how amazing and inspiring of a person he would become. He would never become that person if he was stuck here, with a group of shitty, stereotypical pirates that would never lead him to fulfil his dreams and ambitions. While no doubt it'd probably be much easier for me to just sneak off by myself, I'd be quite the shitty person if I left him to his own devices.

"Then come with me," I said, pulling him out of his despair, "it may not be what you need, after all I'm also a pirate, but… it'll be better than what you've been dealing with."

He gazed at me with glossy eyes. "You're a pirate?"

I nodded. "Mmhhhm. Though, I can hardly call myself one right now. I don't have a crew, ship, or a bounty to speak of. I'm a clean slate, but I'm hoping to change that soon," I explained, seeing his tense shoulders relax as he focused on the conversation.

"But you're… n-nice? Why _are _you a pirate, if you're acting like this?" Koby asked, continuing as I listened for any strange noises.

"I…" The question struck me hard, pushing me back into the desperate reality of my life. Memories of the anime I loved to watch rose to the surface, knowing that I would now have to face all those challenges and to live up to _such _a crazy tale. "I'm going to become the king of pirates," I said candidly.

He gasped, but he didn't utter a word as footsteps rounded the corner, making us both freeze. Only a second later, the footsteps receded, and Koby let out a relieved breath.

"The king of pirates?! You mean you want to obtain the One Piece?! B-b-but, you said yourself that you don't even have a crew! It's impossible!" He exclaimed, taken aback by my statement.

"Wow, thanks for the encouragement," I said sarcastically, making him frown. "Don't worry about me, I have… my ways. If I go out trying to live the epic pirate life, I may die early, but if I sit here doing nothing, I'll be bored and still die _anyway_." To be honest, that was more of self-reasoning than anything.

He gave me an unbelieving look. "I-is that _actually _the reason why? You're going to become the king of pirates just so you aren't bored?!"

I shrugged, dragging my finger on the floor in a circle. "It's more complicated than that-" (an understatement), "-but it's still true. You have to admit going to the Grand Line and living out all your best dreams is _way _better than, I dunno, being a civilian? Sitting around, contemplating whether or not you mean anything in the grand scheme of things, ya know? Sure, everybody has a purpose in this world, but I think even the most kindhearted and fair of humans can understand that some people are more influential than others…" I rambled, stopping when I realized I was starting to project again. "O-or in short, I don't want to be useless."

That caused Koby to stop and look at me more seriously, all the fear in his posture gone, replaced with a more slack and ruminating tone.

"I guess I n-never thought of it like that. Usually I'd just think about my goal as what it is, a goal. A-A crazy dream I-I'd never achieve. If I never achieve it, I really _would _just be another human...another life," he admitted, pushing up his glasses, "if I let Alvida-sama, er, Alvida control my life, I'd die as nothing but a pawn to be thrown away…"

After that sad revelation, I almost regretted letting myself get sentimental and reflect on my deteriorating mental health, but I was interested nonetheless. Watching him become contemplative and stand up for himself was quite entertaining, and it made me feel at least a fraction better than I was since I woke up.

"That's why I told you to come with me," I interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Look at yourself. You _want _to leave, you have a dream. I'm not gonna say it'll be easy- fuck, I know for a _fact _it will be the most difficult thing one can experience, but…" I took in a deep breath, "it's worth it. Going out there makes life just so much more worth it!" I declared, smiling for the first time here.

Koby mimicked my smile with a small giggle as well. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I-I uh, I never asked you your name. Mine is Koby, b-by the way," he bubbled.

"Me?" I asked rhetorically with a flamboyant wave of my hand, "I'm none other than Monkey D. Luffy! Now, why don't we get the hell on out of here?"

"Right!"

Getting up, we both rushed out the door and to the hallways, glad to find that nobody was around once more. We quickly found our way to the exit, but nervousness started to bite at my bones at the sound of rowdy pirates right above our heads. I swallowed down the hesitation, reaffirming to myself I had the ability to kick their asses easily. If I couldn't do _that_, then I still had the durability and agility to not die in 10 seconds flat. In fact, I'd like to think me getting away without a scratch would make me about 20% cooler.

"Are you ready?" I asked, giving him a determined face.

He paused. "No."

"That's what I thought!" And then I proceeded to burst through the opening like fireworks on the 4th of July.

All action on the deck stopped as multitudes of men paused to glare at me and Koby, hostile stares sent our way. Giving orders to the rest of her crew was none other than the delusional menace herself, Iron-mace Alvida.

Koby flinched besides me as Alvida turned her brooding eyes towards us, predatory and not one to mess around. She frowned. "And who are you? What are you doing with my cabin boy, huh?" she accused, making grave worries pop up in my brain.

I took one breath in, one out. The jitters in my body not going away, but letting my racing blood calm down. Alvida wasn't a threat to me unless I _made _her a threat, and the same applied to everybody else on her crew. I reminded myself that I was doing this for Koby, to think a little more positive, to instead think _stay alive _in contrast to _don't die_.

"I'm taking him away from _you_," I announced, placing a protective hand on his head.

The other pirate captain snorted. "Hah? What do you think _you _can do to stop me?"

I stopped, genuinely mulling over the different ways I _could _defeat her. "Well," I said, putting a hand on my chin, "I can fist fight you, punch you a lot, which is most likely. I could use swords, but I dunno how to use those…" I giggled, continuing, "maybe I could use your mace against you? Oh _man _it would be cool if I already knew Haki and stuff, that would be funny. Actually, maybe I _should _try to learn that if I can, god that would be helpful. Hey Koby, you think-"

"_ENOUGH!_"

Flinching, I turned back to Alvida with a frown.

"That's enough out of you!" She screamed, pointing her mace at me. "No more mocking me! Men, get him!"

My frown turned into a fearful scowl as a horde of pirates stormed at us. I pushed Koby elsewhere as I ran, all of a sudden wishing there was a way to verbalize a keysmash other than screaming. I looked everywhere for a quick means to escape so I could _actually _find a way to not get myself killed, and thankfully I managed to find one.

Running backwards, I aimed my fist at the main mast, upwards towards the crow's nest. Pulling my arm back and shooting it forward, everybody stopped as they watched my arm stretch further and further, not stopping. It was extremely strange watching _my own arm _stretch to lengths I thought was physically impossible, so much so I almost didn't notice that I missed my shot.

I nervously readjusted my arm as it came back, grabbing onto the rope connected to the mast. Immediately, my body was pulled off the ground and shot towards the rope, a feeling in my stomach akin to being on a rollercoaster and going down the biggest drop.

"H-holy shit," I gasped, clinging onto the rope for dear life. Everybody below me now looked like little scurrying ants, surprised and in awe.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Did you see that? His arm stretched!"

"Is he a demon?!"

I wanted to snort at that last comment, but Alvida pitched in with her own explanation.

"It's a devil fruit. I've heard of them before, but I thought they were only myths."

I stuck my feet through the rope holes and got my footing more stable, then very maturely stuck my tongue out. I called out, "For your information, I ate the Gomu-Gomu no mi. Does it look like I'm a myth to you?!"

Alvida growled once more and I chuckled nervously. "That's not good" I murmured, trying my hardest to distract myself from the killing intent that emanated from below me.

And yeah, It _wasn't _good because Alvida herself finally decided to take action, _launching _her mace at me and forcing me to detangle myself from the rope so I didn't get sent to the ether. I swung off and jumped into the air, stretching my arms back, and then as I fell, stretched them forward with extreme force, crashing _right _in the middle of the crowd. Wood splintered everywhere as bodies got sent into the air, the board breaking under my hands. I landed sloppily, climbing out of the rubble with a shake to my head, blood buzzing under my tingling skin.

I jumped and ran as the remaining men tried to decapitate, skewer, and/or maim me. Probably all of those at once. Unfortunately, I tripped over a stray board from my attack, rolling on my back. Luckily for me, the men were stupid enough to trip over me too, and so started a domino affect that bid me some time. Grabbing one of the idiots to pull myself up, I jumped to my feet and used the momentum to sling the guy I grabbed into the body pile, rendering them 100% useless. My heartbeat died down in my ears, and I felt more accomplished than I probably should have.

That small pride was smothered with annoyance as soon as I heard Alvida's defeatist growl, obviously not expecting me to total her crew, especially with my… strange ways.

"You useless MORONS! You couldn't even take out one person?!" Alvida shrieked, face flushed a shade of tomato red in rage.

"Implying I'm a person," I said to myself, waiting for her to shut up.

Thank god, she did. She eyed me, baring her teeth and gripping her mace tight enough to turn her knuckles white. I put my guard up, preparing for any sort of oncoming attack. I was surprised when not a moment later, her attention completely shifted, and when I followed her line of sight, my heart stopped when I realized what she was about to do.

I jumped and rolled again, sliding to my feet and pushing Koby out of the way. He stumbled backwards, confused, but as he looked above me, his expression morphed into pure horror.

"_LUFFY!_"

For a split second, the sun was blacked out, and when I turned around, Alvida slammed down her mace into my gut, knocking the air out of me. My brain probably did some sort of mental check that went a bit like "how the fuck am I alive" because I blanked out, came back to reality, and realized that I didn't feel any pain. But just because I didn't feel any pain, doesn't mean I didn't feel _anything. _

"Holy _shit _this thing is heavy," I wheezed, shoving the stupid mace imprinting itself into my abdomen off of me.

Alvida looked at me like I just jumped out of a portal to hell, and I might have laughed if it weren't for the fact I was repumping my lungs with air like a tire.

"H-how are you-"

"Aren't _you_ the one who explained I had a Devil Fruit earlier, jackass?" I cut off. I was beginning to become more complacent with the current issue, now knowing for sure that Alvida couldn't really do shit to hurt me. Yeah she could launch me into the ocean, but I could easily run, and what was she gonna do, _chase _me? Our battle would look more like a comedy skit at that point.

She went to grab for her mace, but I was faster, whipping my leg out and knocking her on her back. She spluttered, writhing on the ground like a child while I wracked my abused little brain for a final attack. When I laid my eyes on her mace, I grinned, knowing just what to do.

I grabbed her mace by the handle and dragged it behind me, going a little ways away and distancing myself from her. I smiled at Koby as I passed him, the kid distressed and tired looking, and then slinging the mace into my arms. A couple breaths here and a giddy laugh there, I raised the iron mace over my head and threw it as hard as I possibly could, praying that my aim had a _shred _of mercy for me just _one _time. And lo and behold, as Alvida finally decided to get her lousy ass up, that beautifully horrible mace came down.

Right on her head.

Now, I am no doctor, but I think it was safe to say the crack I heard wasn't good. Koby and I cringed, but I hoped, if only for my own sake, that One Piece logic would prevail and that was merely a comical sound effect and _not _her dying. I really didn't need blood on my hands hours after coming into this world.

"Y-you did it," Koby said, softly grabbing my arm.

I sighed, patting him on the back. "Yeah, I did."

We made our way to where the spare boats were and in no time I was back on the water, the ocean that never calmed down, the seas that harboured more types of beings than one could imagine. Then again, it _was _a man who actually imagined all of this.

When the waves slowed, my eye caught another small boat like ours having already drifted off somewhat.

Nami and I shared glances, but she broke away quickly, staring back out to the sea, sailing on her own path. Not for long, if I could help it, yet it seemed like she was already long gone. I knew I didn't have to worry about her for a little while, but this guilt that crawled in my veins told me to go after her, an anxious pain that made my hands tremble. All the while another part of my brain wondered about the dangers that would come with straying from canon so early. I mean… I would have to stray eventually, but the butterfly effect did _not _treat its victims nicely.

In the end, I decided to go after her.

When we rowed next to Nami's boat, she turned around and jumped, holding her hands up.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

Making my demeanor as natural and unthreatening as possible, I said, "Don't worry! We just need directions to Shells town if that's at all possible."

Her expression didn't soften at all, but she at least put her hands down and gave us a thought. "I can. Actually, I'm going the same way, but _why_?"

Since it was out of the blue, Koby looked at me like he was asking why too. I shrugged. "I'm looking for a certain person, and he's-" I pointed to Koby, he waved at her, "-going to join the Marines there."

Koby choked but I just smiled, acting innocent in Koby's surprise. Nami seemed to tense up at the mention of Marines, but either she thought Koby would _never _be cut out for that, or she could already gather that Koby wasn't going to be one of _those _Marines, because she nodded.

"Okay," she sighed, "you can sail with me."

I gave her another big grin, happy that she complied with our wishes. I had no doubt that becoming friends with her wasn't going to be a simple task, but since I had a head start, maybe I could win her over quicker. Of course, if she _never_ decided to become part of the crew, I couldn't really do anything- and I certainly wasn't going to force her -but I didn't really want to entertain the thought of having to find a replacement for her, if I even _could_.

"I'm Luffy, by the way," I said, hoping I wasn't pushing it too far.

Koby weakly smiled. "I-I'm Koby."

She didn't smile back, but she wasn't frowning as she was before. "I'm Nami," she said flatly, and then removed her bandana, letting all of her hair fall into place. A shimmering orange-red, she had the prettiest hair I had ever seen.

It wasn't long before we were set on track, our boats sailing in tandem with one another and the noon-sun returning to blaze down on us. A silence passed between the three of us, nothing more than the birds flying above our heads and the crystal waves below our feet making noise. Maybe the occasional need to turn a sail or eat something, but truly, I could feel that we had peace.

On this ocean, which held no mercy, I was left to think. The waves were soft and the breeze softer, as I closed my eyes and felt my eyelashes flutter. The board was warm, and though it was stiff and unfamiliar, I felt so _tired_. I thought, maybe if I slept, I would wake up back in my bed and this whole experience would be some amazing dream. I didn't want to believe I was really gone, so far from home, drifting forever. I may not have been floating in darkness, but rocking slowly in the quiet, it might as well have been no different. Yet, I shot those thoughts out of my brain immediately. Of course I was here, Koby was still next to me, Nami was still giving us directions. I had to take this seriously, this wasn't those imaginary scenarios I made as a kid, this wasn't something I could wish away! This… this wasn't a game.

It was life. And that's a game I couldn't afford to lose.

**[Heyo heyo! Welcome readers to this… experience. Some of you may be familiar with this, after all, it's a rewrite! I didn't get very far last time, but since I already thought it was hot garbage, I'm doing this again. Same things apply, this is a gen fic! The MC is a thot, but **_**I **_**have restraint, maybe you don't so I can't stop you, just, I plead you don't ask for any pairings. Also I'm not even gonna **_**bother **_**with update schedules, but I'll try. Thank you for reading, and have a good one!] **


	2. Ventriloquist

**Chapter 2: Ventriloquist**

* * *

"Who _is _this person you're trying to meet, anyway?"

My sleepy, heavy eyes made their way to Nami's face, surprised that she was striking up a conversation with me.

Since Nami didn't seem one to talk on our journey, and I was pretty tired, I decided to see if I could slip in a quick nap. I did and it was acknowledged by Koby that time had passed. No more conversation had gone on while I was asleep, though that may have also had to do with Koby's own reluctance, and five more minutes went by after I woke up with no discussion.

I was fine with that. I didn't need to ruin my chances with Nami so soon by being uncomfortable or weird. I would have liked the distraction, but I found entertainment through leaning my chin against the side of the boat and watching the water wash away past my eyes. Having never ridden a boat, the sheer fascination could have kept occupied for maybe… 10 minutes. But, going past my own assumptions, Nami asked that question.

I sat up, putting a wry smile on my face. "Uhm, well. Don't know if you've heard of him," I said, twirling a finger around in the air, "I mean, he's only one of the most well known swordsmen in the East Blue. You happen to know Roronoa Zoro by any chance?"

And maybe this was my imagination, but I felt the air _stop. _Like the world stopped spinning on its axis because what I had said was just _that _ludicrous. Funny that, since the million _other _things I could say would destroy the universe by that logic.

I looked at both Koby and Nami with an innocent, confused face. I laughed, "What? Is there something _wrong_?"

Koby snapped out of it first, pointing his little index finger right in my chest and yelling, "A-are you serious?! You're telling me you're going to have _Roronoa Zoro _be your first crew member?! I know you're trying to be the pirate king but-"

I waved my hands out fast, not expecting Koby to suddenly blurt out that I was a pirate. "Woah, woah! Koby, hold on-!"

Without any warning, I was gripped by my vest and pulled to the side, cringing as the boat under me rocked dangerously. Koby definitely shut up due to that and my focus had to be completely shifted to the woman I was now at the mercy of. Fistfuls of my vest were in her hand. Her eyes glared daggers into my rubber skull.

"_Why _didn't you tell me you were a _pirate_?" she snapped, voice low, scratchy, and _angry_.

I wasn't exactly _scared_, per se, but my mouth ran dry and my fingers jittered at the sight. This was _not _how I wanted this to go down, _nor _did I want to go down to the bottom of the ocean.

I shifted slightly, not making any move to claw her fingers off of me, merely to adjust myself. I kept up a shaky smile. Hopefully I passed as looking fearful and not suspicious, and said, "Y-you didn't ask, one. And two, that doesn't have to do with anything."

She apparently didn't like that answer, because she pulled again, making my boat sway. "Who cares! I hate pirates, and I am _not _going to be working with _you_!"

"Nami, I-"

Before I could finish, she threw me backwards into the boards and turned away. I scurried to my knees to reach out before she started rowing away, but Koby seemingly had the same idea, getting to that before me.

"W-wait!" Koby called out, legs shaking, "d-don't go. I-I know I don't know w-why you hate pirates, b-but Luffy isn't like other pirates! I swear! He helped s-save me from a different pirate, a-and he's so much better than her. P-please, don't leave!"

Thankfully, she stopped. She didn't really turn around, or come back, but she stopped. I turned to Koby, whose sweat rolled down his pale skin, and frowned.

"You know, you didn't have to-" I started, not wanting him to get involved in my mess.

"You really believe that?"

We flinched as she turned around, a bad scowl on her face. Looking us both up and down, we waited for her to elaborate, hoping myself she wouldn't need any more prompting.

She sighed. "I can't just take your word for it. I've never heard of a _good _pirate. All they do is ruin things and take away the people you love." Then, she looked at me, pointing her finger out. "I can't _trust _you. If you're trying to recruit _Zoro _of all people, who's to say you aren't going to leave Koby behind and start killing people?!"

We stared at each other for a little bit before my eyes tore away, slumping down against the board. Koby glanced at me worryingly, staying tight lipped even if his trembling lip told me he had a world of things to say.

After a moment, I shook my head. "That doesn't mean I _will_. It's fine if you don't trust me, in fact, I'm not expecting you to. We just met, and I know trust takes a long time to build. I'm really sorry for not telling you earlier, but… but you're not telling me much about yourself either." Her mouth opened, but no words came out. I shrugged. "Sure, Zoro has killed people, however I'm not him. I can't control him, and while I will make it _very _clear about my stance on his occasional lack of mercy, my crew members _aren't_ my minions. Like, all I want to do is see cool shit, okay? I'm not going to ruin anything except maybe the fragile egos of terrible people," I explained.

I crossed my arms and waited for a response. I wasn't lackadaisical with my smiles anymore, but I wanted to make sure Nami knew I wasn't mad at her. I just wanted to clear things up. She seemed a little starstruck with my straightforward answer and I was ready to wait as long as I needed to.

She sat back down and turned away. I almost didn't hear her when she said, "Yeah, you're right. Let's just… keep going, okay?"

So we did, with not a single word spoken.

**•**

The blue sky had become speckled with little grey clouds by the time we had landed; the afternoon sun less violent with it's ultraviolet rays, but not benevolent. I marveled at the sight in front of me. There was such a cute little town right before my eyes. It was the sort of place that I used to envy. I mean, _yeah_, it wasn't Chicago or Cincinnati, but the giant Marine base up utop looking over the town made it look… cooler than Florida. And _most things _were cooler than Florida. Especially a lively island like this.

"Y-you seem pretty impressed with the town," Koby said, stepping out of our boat.

"Do I?" I sheepishly responded. "I can be easily impressed."

Without any more interruptions, we started our trek towards the heart of the town. Nami was still silent, following foot to foot with us. Sometimes I glanced behind me to make sure she was there or doing okay, only to see her tie her bandana on or look at the Marine base with a face I knew I'd never decipher.

In 15 minutes, we made it to the gate of the base. One of the larger gates I can say I've seen, and a bigger wall to boot. I could've easily scaled it, for sure, but they couldn't. At least it was a problem easily solvable.

I stepped to the side, grabbed the ledge of the wall with my powers and jumped up, kneeling on the edge and holding my hand out.

"Here, we can just go over like this!" I exclaimed.

Koby seemed a little hesitant, but ultimately didn't mind. I grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and he jumped down on the other side. I held out my hand for Nami too. She didn't budge, instead staring at me like I had grown three heads. I was confused for a second until I realized…

"Oh. Hah, sorry I uh, forgot to mention I have a Devil Fruit," I said awkwardly.

She spluttered and waved her arms about. "How do you just _forget _to mention-?! Nevermind, weirdo."

I laughed as I helped her up. There was a grumble in her tone, but I ignored her and jumped down the other side.

Strangely, the dirt appeared more coarse and rocky than the other side of the wall or in town. Leading to the Marine building was nothing but a barren and empty field, and sitting in the middle was Zoro strung up on the cross. Koby shivered besides me, seeing his form- which, to be honest, looked nothing more than a blob from this distance- and hid behind me.

I didn't say anything, simply patting his head and walking forward. It didn't take very long for Zoro's attention to be peaked, and he glared at us from under his sash, making Koby and Nami flinch.

"Luffy, a-are you sure this is a good idea?" Koby murmured.

I paused momentarily. "No," I admitted, "but I don't think it's a bad idea either."

When we got close, Nami and Koby stayed behind me. Zoro's glare intensified, and for _sure _he was the scariest person I had encountered so far, even if he was tied up. He was roughed up and dirty, but I could see faint scars everywhere, from battles and fights that's he's had over the years. Eyes that immediately told you, he wasn't the prey, he was the _predator_. Skin tanned from days out bounty hunting and training, and muscles that gave you the sense he could rip your spine out. Basically everything I needed!

"And what the hell do you want?" Zoro growled.

I playfully kicked at the dirt beneath me. "Sightseeing," I joked, pulling a wry smile.

"What are you _doing_?" Nami said with a less than enthusiastic face, "I thought you were supposed to be recruiting him, not poking _fun _at him!"

I shrugged her off, continuing my casual kicking motion. "I'm practicing the fine art of establishing friendship, thank you. Plus, don't you have your _own _business to be worried about? I'm not holding you ransom here, I can deal with Zoro while you play around in the base," I said, _maybe _acting a little too cocky.

She scowled, obviously not happy that I was giving her so much sass.

"I'm _right _here, assholes!" Zoro called out, catching our attention again.

I gave him a spare glance but ultimately ignored him for now, having realized how much _easier _Nami's existence made in getting Zoro out of the base. So, I nodded over to my shoulder and said to her, "seriously, sneaking in will probably be as easy as it could be right now. I think I overheard that Zoro's swords were in some safe spot in the base or something, so if you happen to find them, it'd _really _be nice if you could get them for us." I smiled and then quickly added, "you don't have to, though."

Her mouth hung open as she glanced between the three of us; she couldn't do anything but sigh and do what she came here to do. It wasn't very long before she was out of our sight, and only the three of us were left standing… er, Zoro was _semi _standing.

That was when I finally turned back to the green haired swordsman, who wasn't looking any less pissed off and confused than before.

"Would you _care _to explain what is going on?"

As I took out the little blade in my pocket (I _knew _it would be useful), I explained carefully, "I'm breaking you out and recruiting you. The Marines here had no intention of keeping you alive."

Zoro blanked, but Koby seemed a little confused.

"W-wait," he interjected, holding his shaky hand out, "what are you talking about? Why w-would he think the Marines would keep him a-alive?"

I bit my lip as I remembered that Zoro and Helmeppo's little "agreement" wasn't exactly common knowledge, nor was the knowledge that agreement was complete bullshit.

"All you really need to know is that the Marines were fabricating what they told Zoro. He's going to be executed soon, but they told him he would be let go if he stayed like this-" I pointed my thumb to Zoro, "-for like, a month or something. Which like I said, is a lie. Weren't you listening to the townspeople as we were walking by?"

After that spiel, I went over and mindfully slipped the blade under the bristly rope, slowly cutting them one by one. Silence met the three of us.

"What if I don't _want_ to leave, huh?" Zoro challenged after I had already freed one arm.

"So you want to sit here and die?" I derided, continuing to fight off the ropes, "I apologize but I _know_ you're not that stupid. Unless sitting here was so bad it made you lose the will to live?"

Zoro scoffed. "You're _blackmailing _me."

I kept up a poker face, working with a detached tone. I didn't bother responding, I already said what I needed to, and I doubted Zoro needed much more prompting to bounce from this shithole. There wasn't any need to waste my time with empty threats or bluffs as well. At the very least I could save it for when I found myself in a _true _pinch.

Gently, I pulled away all the ropes and dropped them to the ground, letting Zoro step away from the wood and flex his arms. He groaned as he cracked his neck, fingers, and back, dusting himself off and standing up straight.

"I'd say we should stick around and wait for Nami but… I don't think we have the luxury for that," I said.

"You think?" Koby said, rubbing his arm.

"No, I'm not leaving here without my swords," Zoro ordered. He peered at me in particular, and I awkwardly shifted my feet.

"_Well_," I started, wringing my fingers together, "whether we stay here or _not_, we still can't be in public. We're going to have to trust Nami that she's bringing your swords and hide somewhere."

Koby shook his head. "Hide somewhere? This field is empty!"

"I'm _saying_ let's just jump the wall again, we genuinely don't have enough time to just stand here and-"

A gasp cut my words short and a little part of my brain started to rot inside my head. Slowly, I turned myself away from the other two and back towards the wall, where a little girl stood absolutely shell-shocked. Her arms were tightly held to her body and her eyebrows were scrunched up in confusion. However, I was more concerned with the fact her showing up meant we had less time than I thought; we had better get out before the jackasses came in.

Rika flinched as I inched forward and motioned for the others to follow, yet astonishingly she held her ground.

When we stopped right in front of her, she adorned a shaky smile, saying to Zoro, "Hi! I-I was going to give this to you since you were stuck over there, but, it seems like you're free now! Are they your friends?"

Zoro's face didn't even twitch as she unwrapped the rice balls and held them out, but he _did _shoot me a look.

"I wouldn't call them friends…" he uttered, then looked back down to Rika. "I don't need charity, you can keep it."

Rika frowned. "But you're hurt! And I made them myself!"

While the interaction was indubitably important for later on, every second felt like it was multiplying the butterflies in my stomach. Koby's shifty fingers seemed to mirror that, so I took it upon myself to hurry up this mini fiasco.

I cleared my throat and smiled at Rika. "Hey," I interjected, "I can take that for him and give it to him later. It's not safe for you _or _us to be here, so why don't we all skedaddle before we get in trouble?"

She appeared hesitant at first, but then nodded and grinned. "Okay! You're a very nice friend, mister!"

Not two moments later did our transaction take place and I helped everyone over the wall, taking the ladder down in the process. Rika was thoroughly entertained with my rubber powers, finding it hard to keep quiet, while Zoro called me inhuman until I crossed him a deadpan look and pointed back over the wall. Funnily enough, we could actually hear Helmeppo from all the way across the yard, screaming bloody murder as if his first born child sprouted a pair of wings and flew away- like he could ever conceive a child with someone in the first place. At least it provided a dubious source of entertainment until Nami returned from the depths of the base.

Speaking of Nami…

"There you guys are! I didn't expect you to _actually _go through with freeing Zoro," she called.

I raised my head, as I was slumped down against the wall, and grinned. "Well of course! I am a man of my word."

She rolled her eyes. "You're a pain in the ass is what you are, anyways-" she slung the swords on her back off, "-since they were right there, I grabbed them for you. Consider this the first and last free favor you're getting from me."

I sweatdropped, but I didn't say anything as Zoro smirked and wordlessly grabbed his swords from Nami. Rika, once again, became remarkably fascinated with the shiny blades, only stopped by Koby who wasn't very fond of the idea of a child trying to play with sharp objects. Especially one as curious and well-meaning as Rika.

"Did you get what you wanted?" I asked after a little while.

Nami tensed and frowned. "No I didn't. The map I was looking for was a fake."

I genuinely frowned as well, even though I knew it was going to be fake. "That sucks, who got to it first? It must have been someone just as informed."

She opened her mouth, paused for a second, and then said, "I don't need to tell you. Unless, like I said earlier, you want to pay for the favor?"

"Does it look like I have even a single pretty beri on me?"

"Exactly." She took a brief look at Zoro, Rika, and Koby messing around. "I doubt they do either. Honestly, I have no business with you anymore, I should just leave."

Hurriedly, I stood up and waved my hands out. "Woah, woah," I ushered, also looking at our three companions, "there's no need to uh, be so hasty! Recruiting Zoro wasn't the _only _thing I said we'd be doing here, hell it isn't even the most important. I'm trying to get Koby into the Marines, but that's going to require more effort than cutting some ropes."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What does that have to do with me, though?"

I rubbed the back of my head. I mean, technically she was right; it _didn't _have anything to do with her, but excuses were excuses and I needed them.

"W-well," I stuttered, leaning back against the wall, "I was hoping you could watch over Koby and Rika while Zoro and I go back in to revolutionize the place. And before you say anything-!" I added as I saw her face scrunch up, "-the person who runs the base here is a narcissistic asshat who abuses his power and the people. I'm not having Koby enroll himself into a corrupt facility."

Finally, she bit her lip and turned her gaze towards the ground.

"_Fine_," she sighed, "those two don't look like they could run a simple ice cream parlor, so…"

Relief flooded me and I nearly let myself show it, but I willed myself to keep my composure. Besides, Zoro seemed to be getting fed up with having to deal with two unruly children who were unruly for opposite reasons, so it'd do him some good to keep them off his hands.

Nami and I informed the rest of them of our plan and officially broke into two groups. I waved Koby off as he went with Nami, nervous but ultimately knowing he'd be ten times safer elsewhere than near the base. Zoro then took the onigiri I offered to him. I didn't comment on it as he wasn't a conversational man in the first place. I could tell by the knuckle-white tight grip on his swords that he wanted to cut the base in two, his anger didn't need to be displayed in words.

We hopped back over the wall, mildly surprised that Helmeppo's crew was still about while he threw his tantrum. It would've been nearly comical if he wasn't talking about _beheading _whoever "dare go against him. "

Oh… Deep breath in, deep breath out. Count to ten and back again, and then…

"Hey _dipshits_!"

My heart flipped as all of the Marines swiveled around to see who called out, with guns in their hands and caps shadowing their faces.

"Looking for somebody?"

Helmeppo paled (somehow) and started trembling like a leaf.

"YOU BASTARDS! How dare you try and escape, don't you know who my father is? He'll have your heads for this!" He shrieked. Maybe that would have been a fraction more intimidating if he wasn't wearing the ugliest shade of purple known to man.

Zoro grimaced. "Does it look like we care?"

I snorted. He may not of been a wordy person, but damn were the words he _did _say laced with sass.

Of course, Helmeppo's only response was to grumble incomprehensibly and wave a couple of incomprehensible hand signs that meant for them to- _oh_, good gods! They were aiming their guns at us!

I snarled. "Get back!"

"Wha-?"

"FIRE!"

One second, I was standing besides Zoro, and after another second I pushed him behind me, spreading my arms out. The choice wasn't even entirely conscious, making me forget that I _wasn't _about to die right now, but who's to say living through the experience was any better? Seriously, those bullets may not have went _through _me, but they were searingly hot and spun into my skin like it was trying its hardest to ignite a friction fire. When they ricocheted, I lost my balance and fell flat on my back, hissing at the faint sting the bullet burns left. I barely registered anything after that, storing a modest thought in my brain to never take bullets without proper preparation.

I jumped when Zoro put a hand on my shoulder, bafflement painted across his face.

"You're still alive? Are you okay?"

Blinking a few times, I shook my head to adjust myself. "Yes, I'm fine. Devil fruit powers, it's pretty nifty."

"I'll bet. If you're fine, then you better get up before _they _recover."

I jumped back to my feet, a numb buzz filling my body while I watched the Marines across from us stare at me like I was a freakshow. Which was not an incorrect term to describe what just occurred, to be fair. And it gave me an idea!

I stretched random parts of my body to startle them and then reached for one of them clutching a gun. He screeched and stepped back, but I took hold of his arm and propelled myself to him. I body slammed him- yanking out the gun in succession- and accidentally knocked him out. The others couldn't do anything as bullets didn't have an effect, they were petrified, and now I had a gun. A gun I was using to completely bullshit them!

"AGH!" I heard echoed in the crowd.

Zoro took initiative and utilized my distraction to slip by and start wreaking havoc, slicing into the flesh of our star-struck enemies. Helmeppo sunk to his knees.

I briskly conjured up more plans of action as I viewed the faux battlefield with sly eyes. The Marines had their hands filled with Zoro for, at the least, a minute or two, and tapping my knuckles against the rifle confirmed to me it would work _beautifully _as a makeshift baseball bat.

Rising to my feet, I grasped the gun by the barrel and started to spin like a top, increasing the length of my arms at the same time.

"Gomu-Gomu no…"

The poor souls who had the bright idea to stay in my range got their teeth knocked out by the butt of the gun socking against their jaws at high velocity. Or alternatively, getting knocked out by taking the hit to their _skulls_ instead. Why use bullets when this was just so much more fun?

"_Revolver!_"

My grip on the gun slipped up as I got dizzy, flying far out to a nearby window. Then I fell on my back again.

When I blinked my vision back to normalcy, I gawked at the damage I actually managed to cause. Marines fell around me in a perfect circle, and I winced at the sight of a chipped tooth near my hand, blood splotched in miniscule but noticeable patterns. Okay so, Revolver may have been a _bit_ extra in the damage department for cannon fodder, especially when I still didn't know how to control my own strength.

"Y-You're a devil!" Helmeppo cowered, " absolute demons, the both of you!"

Zoro helped pull me up and neither of us really bothered responding, having thoroughly proved our positions within the short timeframe. We didn't stop him when he ran towards the building of the base itself, tripping his way through the doors.

"Is it okay to let him go?" Zoro questioned.

I waved nonchalantly. "Eh, I want him to get his dad so I can beat his ass. Or you can. Either way asses will not be left unbeaten today."

He made a subtle movement around. "I think you already kicked plenty of ass, _captain_."

I snorted and said, "true true. But they were in the way, and that was entirely unplanned. I never used that move before."

"It kinda seems like you never used _any _of your moves before…"

"Watch it, smart mouth," I said, crossing my arms, "I'll sic one of those moves on _you_!"

**•**

The world turned a shade darker as a cloud passed overhead, Nami deciding to take _one _glance behind her. The base was now much more miniscule from far away, and she became hyper aware that she split away from two potentially dangerous people, leaving them behind. She left them behind to guide two _not _potentially dangerous people, said people waltzing about the town streets like it was a park.

She found fickle amusement in Rika's innocent happiness and Koby's empathetic worry, both of them tying around one another like newly found siblings. Only, it was hard for Koby to keep from incessantly concerning himself with Luffy's safety, which meant that Nami would be forced to have to think about that freaky weirdo pirate too. Rika was too young yet to understand the repercussions of pirates sailing around like it was nobody's business. Or Marines who flaunted their status like it meant jack shit, for that matter.

Or maybe Nami was simply stressing herself over absolutely nothing.

Luffy said it himself- and with not a dash of malice- that all he wanted to do was enjoy what the world offered him. She was _impeccable _at detecting sleazy intentions in unfavourable characters, yet she wanted to convince herself that Luffy was just good at manipulation.

There _had _to be something hidden under that colloquial and whimsical facade of his. Otherwise, everything she came to believe would be called into question! Luffy was obviously letting Zoro join his crew for his own benefits, Koby was a pawn in a deceitful plan of his, and he was only nice to Nami so he could use her too. It made sense, it made total sense. It was plausible. It had to be.

But, her mind fumbled a little bit when Koby smiled, talking about the rubber captain to Rika like it was Christmas Day.

"He's _so _strong and cool, and h-he helped me get away from these mean p-pirates so that I could fulfill my own dreams!" he spoke, garnering Rika's full attention. "And now, he's even helping th-this town, even if he doesn't have to!"

All in the work of a manipulative flea, right? That's what it was, he was going to ransack this town and leave them to shreds with Zoro by his side. Her own nails dug into her palms at the thought of insidious actions spiraling through her mind, because _of course _nobody in this world was ever so altruistic that they'd save hundreds of people at the drop of a hat. The only explanation- or really, the only explanation she'd accept- is that it was all shadowed by an ulterior motive, waiting to bare his fangs at his victims. How could she let herself get caught in that?

How could she ever-?

"Nami," Rika murmured, "you're friends with Luffy, yeah?"

Nami swallowed and tried to pick her face back up. "Friends is… a _relative _term." She took her second glance back to the Marine base. "I wouldn't call him my friend."

Rika frowned. "Oh. Is Zoro _his _friend? Koby is his friend, and I want to be his friend." Her face lit up again. "He probably has a _lot _of friends! Koby said he's amazing!"

They all sat down at the stairs of the doorstep, Nami thinking about the anomaly of Koby. He gave off even less danger signals than Luffy did, she had to admit, and clearly more trustworthy. Koby was timid, young, and wanted to be a Marine. There wasn't a _fraction_ of a chance he was a bad person; yet he praised Luffy and encouraged people to praise with him.

Nami grimaced. "If he had so many friends, why does he have to look for one in random strangers?"

Koby timorously sat down besides Nami. "Maybe he likes making new f-friends. He t-told me he didn't want to be useless, so he set out to be the pirate king, and he'd m-meet a lot of new people. He'd get a lot of new friends that way, right?"

A lot of new friends huh? A sweet sound. For what it was worth, maybe she had to look at Luffy in that same way too. To become the pirate king would mean to have ultimate power, money, and _freedom. _

Would that ever be possible for her?

**•**

"Oh damn it all," I cursed, standing on guard, "when I said I wanted Morgan to get here, I didn't mean for his entire entourage to come with!

Zoro didn't say anything, simply lazily placing his hand upon his swords.

So… Helmeppo definitely went to call his dad out from the base. It took about ten minutes, but we quickly realized _why _it took ten minutes when nearly a hundred Marines stormed out of the base, mostly armed with blades and petrified faces. Morgan didn't even bother to clean up the mess Zoro and I made of Helmeppo's group, I doubt he even bothered to _look_.

"Dearie me, isn't this a bit overkill?" I said with a fake, higher pitched voice.

Helmeppo scowled. "Overkill?! _You _were the one who-!"

"Silence!" Morgan roared, making them all stiffen. "You called me here to deal with a dim-wit and a half dead criminal?"

"Th-th-they took down all the soldiers who were with me! The one in red, he has a Devil Fruit!"

The Marines all gave each other skeevy, frightened looks, boots tepidly shifting in the dirt. I didn't know whether to scare them more by glowering at them, or putting on a pretty face and acting like he was spouting facetious nonsense. Either way, there was no getting out of this situation, but I didn't _really _have to cause any more damage than before. My only true target was Morgan. They all served as target practice at this point.

"A devil fruit? It's a wonder you mongrels couldn't handle him," Morgan said, holding his Axe-hand.

While they were distracted by my _wonders_, I made a couple hand signals towards Zoro. _Three sword style. Front row. I'll jump over you. Distract Morgan. _

He squinted at me in perplexion for a moment, but eventually came to understand what I meant, tying his sash around his head. The sound of his swords quieted the crowd, all of them gripping at their own weapons in anticipation. Morgan barely even spared us a twitch of the eye, obviously believing we were some form of inferior creature standing in his pathway. But I hardly thought he understood the small interaction between me and my new first mate. It was their loss.

Zoro finally moved, dashing ahead towards the Marines while I ran adjacent to him, nearly a foot behind. The first wave could barely adjust to the sight, taking some non-lethal slashes to the torso while I dodged the extras surrounding us. As Zoro snapped to me, I side-stepped a near amputation, leaped up, used Zoro's head to gain more air and arched my way over Morgan's surprised face. I rolled into my fall, keeping my head low since I landed into a saturated pit of wielded blades, zipping around like a squirrel and tripping randoms over.

Morgan couldn't turn around to deal with me as he was occupied with Zoro, which meant thankfully I was left with clearing out the garbage so we could handle the Captain with no extra trouble. However, I found myself at a crossroads; Marines were _just _slightly more trained than a rough-house pirate so I'll be one to say I got nicked a couple times. Yeah, it was probably because I was being a moron and I had an acute lack of spatial awareness, but I'd prefer it to losing an eye or two. The sting of the cuts actually helped me become more cognizant of my body. That didn't necessarily mean I was any better or faster at taking my enemies _down_.

I slinkied myself back to the ground and grabbed one of the soldiers' feet. He let out a sound akin to choking on a spider before I ripped him off of the dirt and swung him around like a glorified sock of rocks. It was becoming a staple move of mine to do so, yet one couldn't deny the effectiveness.

In a noble sense, the Marines became hesitant to retaliate while I had one of their comrades in my arms, but in combat, that just gave me the upper hand. I easily slugged down ten men until I took pity on the guy I was swaying about and dropped him. _Besides_, they're lucky I felt pity at all.

"Th-they can't," Helmeppo said amongst the sea of despair, "he's too strong!"

I paused at that, the waves of motion in the crowd decelerating as they all came to the same realization too. Zoro and Morgan's fight was put on pause to observe.

"Captain Morgan, he's defeating us effortlessly! How could we-?"

My whole body flinched away as Morgan backhanded the unassuming and innocent man, causing more injury to his own ally than I ever did to any of them. The commotion undeniably ceased by now, jaws dropping and eyes widening at the unabashedly violent display.

"How _dare _you speak such weakness in front of me! Don't even _think _you'll be living after I'm through with these two _maggots!_" Morgan boomed. His eyes shifted towards mine.

A cold sweat formed on the back of my neck, peering up at Morgan's murderous snarl. The same numb buzz from earlier clouded and diluted the air around me. Something about the way he looked at me sort of pissed me off, or maybe it was how he didn't pay a single second of attention to the person he thwacked away and _then _looked at me. No, no. My bad, they weren't people to him, they weren't even _garbage _to him.

"You're…" I humorously started, only to shake my head.

I dazedly spun on my heel as I hopped around, avoiding unnecessary damage from Axe-Hand. I jumped high up like previously, but this time I locked my arms around Morgan's neck, albeit sloppily. He squirmed around to try and shake me off, but I dug my nails into him, using my conglomerating rage to make my hold rougher.

I scowled. "Zoro, captain's first order! Take. Him. Out."

Zoro smiled with a sadistic glint in his eye. Morgan growled, the vibration in his throat moving through my unsteady fingers, but it was all in vain. My first mate held his swords up in a familiar fashion, and in the blink of an eye Morgan's flailing halted.

"Oni-" _shink! _"giri!"

I hopped off Morgan's back and stumbled away, watching the dark blood splatter upon the light toned earth, dripping down his torn clothes. His eyes rolled back into his head and he hit the ground with a resounding _thump_.

He wasn't dead. I didn't think so, at least. Seeing his tattered body reminded me of the own blood that smeared across my skin like a paint stain. So much so that I could scarcely register the uproar of celebration the Marines burst into. I even started prodding with the shallow grazes on my skin that had already scabbed over- which deeply unnerved me- until Zoro pulled me back to reality.

"Luffy, you did good," he said. I noticed he had taken off his sash.

Blinking, I awkwardly smiled. "I did?"

"I wouldn't be here if you didn't."

**•**

There was no way I'd be able to suppress a big grin from sprouting on my face when Zoro and I regrouped with Nami and Koby.

I, for one, was thoroughly anticipating having to return to one less member of the party. Which is why I was drowned in relief when I spotted our red-headed navigator still conversing with Koby. Hell, it was a mini miracle she decided to stay with us at all, let alone stick around while I was gone hauling ass. No matter her reasoning, I was glad to see her- and naturally, I was thankful Koby was there too.

The only disheartening fact was that Nami did _not _seem too fond of my newly recruited crew mate, but eh, Zoro didn't look like he cared much for her either. I'd simply have to hope their mutual distrust did not disrupt our travels. I'd act as a placater if push came to shove.

Koby, on the other hand, only appeared to find Zoro scary like a child would find the dark scary. He was more concerned about my well being than anything, which I unquestionably appreciated.

"It's fine," I told him, "look, they've already scabbed. They'll go away in like, a day."

He nodded and then meekly faced Zoro. "You're uh, okay t-too, right?"

Zoro nodded, but a loud growl indicated that maybe he needed some _other _form of treatment. To be fair, it occured to me as well that my stomach felt like it was digesting nothing but _air_. The setting sun was darkening the sky and we were likely to be kicked out if we outstayed our visit. Nami agreed it was for the best if we left before any _more _trouble befell us.

I gave my sincerest smile to Koby as I rubbed his head. "You're going to be the change the world needs."

His ears dusted pink. "I couldn't p-possibly do that! I'm not-"

"You're not what?" I challenged, "strong enough? Good enough? Lies, you're probably better than every man in that Marine building. I find it a shame you can't come with us."

"I…" he stopped and looked at Zoro, who watched us with a small smirk.

"You'll do just fine," I finally said, "trust yourself."

"...Yes! Th-thank you."

Nami stepped away from leaning against the wall, perceiving our conversation as being over. We all grabbed our bags of food and started walking towards the shore, giving Koby one last wave.

The sky had faded into shimmering reds and yellows, casting long shadows along the salt stained boardwalks. I hadn't seen a sunset along a beach shore horizon in years, despite my living on a peninsula in an area no more than 30 minutes from a coastline. All three of us appeared to be subdued by the sparkling of the ocean, creating beautiful hues while we steadily drifted off away from the island. Even the clouds adorned a different but magically pink color, filling our view with nothing but striking charm.

There was only the slightest of disappointments when Koby did not see us off, but that was okay. He was going to be busy, the Marines were going to be busy, and _we _were most certainly going to be busy. Not a moment could be wasted in this world, no not at all.

We ate our food as the sun hid itself away under the horizon, watching the stars come out minute by minute. My eyelids felt heavy again, backed up by the sleepy bleariness of my vision. A yawn could make my head spin and blinking took far too long. Gosh, I seemingly always felt so tired, everything always felt like it was way too much. But, with the consultation of the star speckled sky…

Maybe I'd have a good dream this time around.


	3. Star of the Show

**Chapter 3: Star of the Show**

* * *

_Tap. Tap. _

_Tap. Tap. Tap. _

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. SLAP! _

"OW! What the hell man-"

My voice died in my throat when my eyes locked onto Nami's, her face flat and a finger tapping on the board impatiently.

"Have a good night's sleep?"

Messy strands of hair fell in front of my face as I sheepishly nodded. I brushed the strands away, looking out into the lightened sky, stars having completely faded out in favor for a baby blue dawn. The moon hadn't yet fully disappeared, simply being drowned out into the blue recesses of the atmosphere. It was morning. The thought struck me that I've now lived in this world for nearly a full day.

Nami didn't exactly smile, but her face relaxed as she sat back in her boat. "We tried waking you up last night so you could take a watching shift, but you wouldn't wake up so we left you alone."

"You literally just slapped me and you're telling me you _willingly _let me sleep earlier?" I said, also leaning back.

She scoffed. "Alright, I'll admit Zoro stopped me at first, but it _was _the middle of the night, I suppose I was too tired to bother…"

I looked over to my side, seeing Zoro peacefully sleeping with his arms crossed behind his head. I felt pretty bad knowing that they had to stay up because of me, but it wasn't like I could help it. As soon as we set off from Shells, my body decided it would be a marvelous idea to dispose of all energy; I fell asleep right after we all discussed we were heading to Orange Town. Not to mention I didn't have a single dream over the presumably long time period, which was extremely abnormal for me. Except I'm not all too bright, so I shoved that red flag onto the back burner to catch on fire at a later time.

For now, I focused my attention back on the one other awake person, giving her one of my signature casual smiles.

"We're still on route to Orange Town, correct?" I asked, leaning my elbow on the edge of the boat and resting my head in my hand.

Nami nodded, picking up the compass. "Yes. In fact, we should be arriving in a short time. We could've arrived sooner, but considering we'd be heading into a pirate's territory at night… that isn't exactly a smart idea."

"Tch, you're telling me." I waved my hand. "I'm barely aware of my surroundings as it is, let alone in the _dark_."

"That makes the both of you," Nami joked, rousing a small chuckle at Zoro's expense. To be fair, she wasn't wrong, but I'd like to pray that Zoro's directional challenges wouldn't be too bad until later, like in canon. However forgone his sense of direction may already be, that is.

We continued to make slow small talk, still feeling the awkward tension filling the air. I very much _didn't _complain though, it was leagues better knowing Nami was obliging to converse with me rather than not. Obviously, she was still far from being a friend, but I would respect her distance. She was doing me an enormous favor by simply even _considering _to help us, especially after flipping Shells' Marine base inside out.

Zoro, meanwhile, slept all the way to the last second. As the island came into view, I pulled Zoro back into the world of the living, my first mate drearily peering over the ledge and yawning. He notched his swords onto his hip, not adding any commentary into our elementary conversation until we hit the shore.

I stretched as I climbed out, watching Nami pocket the compass and fake map. Zoro gave one look over the town and raised an eyebrow.

"For a man worth 15 million beri, what's he doing hiding in a nowhere village like this?"

I shrugged, replying with "Easy target." Then I eyeballed Zoro. "By the way, he's like me in that he has a Devil Fruit, aptly named the Bara-Bara no Mi. So I'm sorry to say, but you won't be able to hurt him worth shit."

Nami stepped back with her face scrunched up. "_More _Devil Fruit users? And here I thought I couldn't meet any more freaks…"

I wanted to make a playful counter argument, but I held my tongue. At least Zoro didn't make any snide comments, just accepting the facts as they were and turning to me.

"What about the others then?" he asked. "Don't tell me I'm gonna miss out on good fights."

"Don't worry, don't worry." I held up a hand. "The others will likely be as useful as fish feed. His crew is said to fit in the majority, where the captains get all the clout because their crew members are sub-par in comparison. Just from what I've heard."

Nami interjected by crossing her arms. "Whatever the case, I'm here to grab some cash and a real map. I'm more than fine leaving you two and those ruffians to brawl if you leave me out of it!"

With all that established, we started walking through the town. It became increasingly clear the houses were vacant, the streets were dead, and not a soul occupied the townish part of the village anymore. Shells town read like a bustling shopping district comparatively, which added to the eerie and somber character of Orange town. It was like people never existed here in the first place, save for the distinct decorations on some houses or the footprints left in the dirt. In retrospect, it was more sad than anything.

Halfway through our scenic stroll, a clunking sound alerted us all.

We all tensed, turning around to guard each other's back. If anyone here was still left, it was going to be a pirate, no questions to it.

"You dumbass!" I heard, growled from a space off between the houses.

I sat unimpressed as four men rounded the corner, feet grinding into the Earth like their teeth grinded in anger. I was mildly surprised when I realized they didn't look recognizable at all, questioning whether that meant I had shit memory or these Buggy pirates weren't the same that tried to attack Nami in the story.

"You there! What are you doing, walking in Buggy's turf?!" One yelled, purple feathered hat fluffing out for exaggeration.

"Yeah! Don't you know what he'll do to people like you?" Another announced in the same manner as the first.

Instead of responding, we sat with blank, apathetic stares. We didn't have to say it, but we made it unmistakably clear that we truly didn't care- or at the very least, Zoro and I sure didn't. With every second that passed, their faces evolved from angry to furious, and eventually they drew their weapons.

"Stop mocking us! We'll kill you ourselves!"

"We didn't even say anything!" I said, gliding out of the way of one man's sword.

No rebuttal except for a frustrated groan. I swung my leg out as the same person tried to maim me again, only to trip over my leg into Zoro's path and get sliced into. The feather hat guy paled at the sight, hesitating long enough for Zoro to thwack him in the head with the blunt edge of his sword. He fell to the ground pretty dramatically. With two more left, their already low standard power was now cut in half. They stared at their small knives and then charged at us, specifically targeting Nami.

She flinched, locked up, and looked away, taking wary steps backwards. There was no need, however, when I thrust my arm into an abdomen coming forward and arched down. I plunged his body into the ground, dust clouds poofing out from under him, and stood up straight ready to protect Nami again. Fortunately, Zoro had already dealt with the other person, whose strands of hair was littered about.

I caught my breath, dusting my hands off. Nami blinked, uncoiling from herself and sighing in relief.

"M-maybe it isn't so bad to travel with freaks if they're freakishly strong," she said.

We continued on walking ahead and I snorted. "Trust me, we're gonna be the most normal freaks you'll meet!"

The air grew quiet and uncomfortable again as we aimlessly walked around. I assumed that we were making a beeline for Buggy's base, but none of us actually established a set goal of what to do. Zoro sure as hell wasn't leading the pack, Nami was smart enough to know to avoid direct contact, and I was too nervous to say anything. But, I guess there wasn't any reason to, as we walked into a clearing split off into multiple paths.

A clearing with a dog sitting at the center building.

"Is that a doggie?!" I squealed, half exaggerated half serious.

"Are you a five year old?" Nami said, taken aback by my uncharacteristic childishness.

I admittedly felt my face flush up, but I didn't let that damper my enthusiasm. "_What?_" I pouted, "I really like dogs, and that is a small doggie right there."

Zoro narrowed his eyes. "Did I choose the right man to follow?"

By now, I was just rolling my eyes. "Come on," I huffed, leading my partners-in-crime forward, "I've got homesickness here. Give me some mercy, I'm… I'm missing my own dog just looking at that one!"

Which frankly, I was. My empathy for humans fluctuated dangerously but I'd cry if I so much witnessed a dog sleeping. However, I could flip this emotional disadvantage of mine into a strategic _advantage _if I was careful enough. Chouchou wasn't the friendliest dog to strangers but at least I knew he wasn't a dumb dog. Hell, I could even go so far as to say Chouchou was more intelligent than any dog back on Earth, like most of the One Piece species. Dare I say, he may even have _human_ emotional capacity.

Chouchou did not react to our banter, nor our slow approach. I think he gathered we were not immediate threats, either that, or he was waiting for the mayor to come out with food.

Speaking of the mayor, where was-?

"What are you three kids doing here?!" A gangly voice rang out, forcing my eyes to snap up.

Mayor Boodle stalked out of the pet store, holding a bowl of dog food and scowling so intensely I could count no less than 20 wrinkle lines on his face. His clothes made an uncomfortable sound when they rubbed together, probably cause the fabric was older than all three of us combined. Not to mention his hair was whiter than the clouds in the sky.

"And here I thought this was a ghost town," Nami said, scrolling her eyes between Chouchou and Mayor Boodle.

"You've got it right, missy," Boodle started, "this is certainly a ghost town. So, I'll ask again; what're you three up to wandering around these parts?"

I placed a hand on my hip. "We're here to crash a party sir. I'd think you know the name of Buggy, correct?"

Boodle's face immediately sharpened, eyes narrowing at the mention of Buggy's name. He stepped away from Chouchou and gave us a wide berth while he scowled once more.

"Of course I know Buggy's name, he damn ransacked this town of its life! Do you have some connection to him, hmm? I won't hesitate to kick you out right now!" He threatened, pointing an accusing finger at us.

Credit where it's due, Boodle managed to stir up a sliver of nervousness in me. Not because he could harm me, obviously, but because he was good at using the elder authority card to draw out a fear of adults within my subconscious. At least it was good to know he had spirit, just, I didn't want it directed towards _me_.

Nami carefully held a hand out. "Now now," she soothed, "let's not get ahead of ourselves. We don't have anything to do with Buggy- actually, we're his enemy too! A couple of his henchmen tried to jump us only a couple of minutes ago!"

I nodded. "She's right. With that being said, do you have directions to where his base is? We got a bit of an unspoken deal to settle."

Boodle's face quickly went from suspicious to confused. "Do you have a death wish?!" he sputtered, "I can't lead you to his base, he'll kill you all in an instant!"

"As if" Zoro mocked, tapping his sheathed swords.

"Yeah, see here old man? We don't really have time to worry about that," I said slightly impatiently. "If you're that concerned, don't be; green hair is Roronoa Zoro, I have a Devil Fruit, and little miss oranges isn't gonna be fighting. Now please, spare us some information?"

I could feel Zoro and Nami glaring daggers into the back of my head, but I was waiting for Boodle to spill. Naturally, the Mayor gave up and hung his head, looking back at me with a defeated expression.

"Don't blame me if you die," he warned, "but, Buggy's base is not too far from here. Go down this street-" he pointed towards our right, back behind him, "-and a few blocks down. He camps on the roof, but they're always loud so you can't miss it."

We thanked him as we walked on. I looked behind me for a moment to see the Mayor take Chouchou's empty bowl and lead the dog inside, leaving us on the empty streets alone. The silence that followed was definitely more than awkward, spurred on by wayward glances, fidgety hands, and anticipatory expressions. I bit my lip while I thought, keeping our walking pace steady.

"So…" I started, "plan of action?"

Nami blanked. "I thought you had one."

I started laughing nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. "W-well, I do! That is to say, uh, I'm reevaluating it! Yes, reevaluating…"

"You're a bad liar," Zoro said with an amused smirk.

I shot him a dead look before crossing my arms. "I'm not lying." Then I started biting my fingernails. "I'm thinking carefully okay? I'm sticking by what I said earlier; Nami, you can leave again to find what you want 'cause Zoro and I will be more than enough of a distraction. However, from what I've heard- and this is mostly for you, Zoro- there's three or maybe four of them we'll have to worry about being dangerous."

Zoro stayed silent and Nami sighed, mirroring my stance. "Sounds good enough for me," she said, "have fun killing each other."

I rolled my eyes. "We aren't killing anybody, thank you very much."

In another few minutes of walking we slowed ourselves at the sound of pirate business booming off the rooftops. We hurriedly slid into a corner and peeked out, gasping when we saw a disembodied figure floating in the air, its cape flowing when it moved around. Of course, I knew that disembodied figure was Buggy, but both Nami and Zoro seemed a bit _more_ than creeped out by what they were seeing. I couldn't blame them though, I've already seen some freaky shit since coming here, but a floating torso was not one of them.

"Now I know what you mean by my attacks not being able to do shit," Zoro mumbled, sweat rolling down his face.

I nodded seriously and gave Nami the go ahead to break off from the group. If Buggy was going to be floating around all over the place, we were going to have to be more discreet than moseying on in with no cover. Glancing around, it didn't take much time for me to piece together our next step.

When Buggy lowered himself from the air, I motioned for Zoro to follow me and we dashed out from our hiding spot.

"Check the door and the other window!" I called, seeing if any of the openings of the house were, well, open. The bottom one was shut, but when I checked the second floor window, there was enough of a gap for me to stick my arm through. Just _barely _enough at that, cause my arm got stuck and it wouldn't unstretch. I would have found it funny if it didn't compromise my plan.

Zoro nearly laughed when he turned back to me, but one glare shut him right up. I clicked my tongue as I said, "help me climb up! I can open the window like that!"

His expression fell as he took no time grabbing and hoisting me above his shoulders. My hands grew clammy and my legs were unsteady, but I could easily maneuver my arm again, restlessly groping the window frame to find a latch. After a couple of unbearably frantic seconds, I slammed the window open and stretched myself in. Not a second later did I turn and grab Zoro's arm, pulling him up so he could jump through as well.

I sighed in relief, inconspicuously closing the curtains. Zoro dusted himself off, giving me an interrogative look and getting quite handsy with his swords.

"Now what, captain?" he asked, obviously impatient and itching for a fight.

"Now," I said, grinning venomously, "it's time for, shall we say… a dynamic entry."

He followed me once more as we wandered through the house into another room with a window parallel to Buggy's base. We had a clear shot from the room to the roof, and if we were lucky, we could've knocked a few people out by becoming a makeshift cannonball.

"Don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing," Zoro wearily pleaded.

My grin widened as I opened the window. "Who said _I _was doing it? This is a _we _operation here, so you better hold on tight boy!"

He looked more terrified than when he saw Buggy from earlier, but knowing that there was no other option, he shook his head and secured his swords.

I clenched my fingers on the outside window frame, backing all the way up to the opposite wall. Zoro slung a tight arm around my shoulders and held on dearly to his hip, gritting his teeth as I aimed myself accurately. Then finally, I felt my body _surge _as my feet left the floor, my arms snapping back into place and the air around me rushing past my ears with a _whoosh_! We were probably in the air for no more than five seconds, but it was five seconds of my stomach feeling like it was trying to do somersaults and Zoro unconsciously putting me in a chokehold.

Now, the best part was undoubtedly the last half second, where I could _see _the mortified expressions on the Buggy pirates right before my body hammered into them at what felt like mach 10. Plus, I got a good heap of asphalt for a snack, courtesy of me doing a few barrel rolls.

My vision spun for a little bit, but I dazedly stood up, whipping my head around to observe the damage. It wasn't _that_ bad, but we caught the attention all right.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Zoro screamed, unearthing himself from all the rubble.

"What? You knew that was going to happen!"

"Like hell I knew it was going to-!"

"Who the hell are you flashy bastards?!"

We both stopped dead, humor gone in an instant as we directed our view towards none other than Buggy the clown. His hair was as blue as the sky and his nose was as red as blood, but for as colorful as his getup was, his eyes were _coated _in malign anger.

'_So much for the entry part of the dynamic entry_' I thought, subtly taking guard while Zoro got his reigns back.

"You think you can just flashily crash in here and get away with it?!" Buggy continued to shout. "Answer me you bastards!"

A couple thoughts scrolled through my mind before I let my face settle completely. "I could ask the same of you," I answered.

Buggy paused for a moment before bursting out laughing, along with the rest of his crew. "And just who do you think you are, huh?!" He laughed some more as he flounced through the crowd, frightened and embarrassed butterflies flying around in my stomach.

Zoro took the time to stand his ground besides me, snapping me out of it and making me feel less nervous. I swallowed my fear and glowered at Buggy, hissing out, "I'm going to kick your ass, that's who I think I am." Risky, sure, but I needed a catalyst for our conversation.

All laughter was cut short. Buggy's jaw dropped at my words, eyes twitching and face swelling red with anger. Zoro smirked out of the corner of my eye and he drew his blades, signaling to me I best prepare myself for the romp of the day. In the span of a moment, Buggy ordered all his men to charge at us- with the exception of Cabaji and Mohji standing next to Buggy- and my feet were no longer still.

I turned my back and led half of the group on a goose chase, snapping my fingers hoping an idea would come to me. After a couple of clicks, I got it. I dodged some strays attempting to skin me alive, but ultimately they were going to lose.

I continued bolting it and ran all the way to the edge of the roof. Bracing myself, I spun around, leaped off the roof, and clutched the ledge. My fall was significantly slowed by my stretched out arms, so I stuck the landing with no pain and fed the momentum into running backwards. I vindictively smiled as my new victims paled in horror at this new development. They may have tried to turn tail and run away, but it was too late for them the second I let go of the ledge, launching myself full force for the second time this day.

My airtime was brief before I crashed into my enemies, their bodies splashing out across the area with a sea of pained cries. The people who I directly hit were out cold, while the collateral damage rolled on the floor with groans and wails.

I turned to see Zoro in a similar situation, bodies surrounding him like they were game. Then again, his epithet _was_ the pirate _hunter _for a reason.

We stood together once more, facing down Buggy, Cabaji, and Mohji. They looked practically dead in the water, all of them were in varying degrees of fear and panic. Buggy himself looked a few synapses away from having a stroke but maybe that was just his natural surprised face, it was hard to tell underneath the egregious amounts of makeup.

"You… dare…" Buggy grumbled, fists shaking, "You _dare _make a mockery of me?!"

I raised a challenging eyebrow, not replying. All the words I had to say to him could wait till _after _everyone else was out of the equation. Buggy, though eccentric, was a… _marginally _reasonable man. I could wait to speak to him alone.

"Cabaji, Mohji! End their lives right this second!"

"Yes, Buggy-sama!"

The two charged at us and it was time for round two. Zoro jumped away as Cabaji pulled a unicycle out of thin air, while I scurried around trying not to get pounced on by Richie.

Taking on an opponent like Richie was going to be far more difficult on the roof. Not only were my previous opponents in the way, but our battlefield was too restrictive. I was fighting a lion for gods sake! Not to mention, we were likely to get in the way of Zoro's battle.

I pressed on, dodging swipes from Richies's paws only to stumble over one of Buggy's men for a split second too long. My hands flew up to protect my face as I was swatted away, Richie's claws ripping into my skin like tissue paper. I soared through the air, crashing clean through a window and smacked into the ground, knocking the wind out of me.

I winced as I sat up, gripping my arm as trickles of blood slid along my fingers. To top it off, shards of glass stuck itself to my clothes and hair, making me want to itch all over.

"Sweet _shit_," I cursed to myself, "that damned lion needs a manicure!"

Flicking the blood off my hand, I shook myself free of the glass shards. Mohji and Richie had done me the favor of removing themselves from the roof, so hey, that was _one _good thing about being batted across the street.

Mohji cynically smiled. "How'd you like that?" he bragged.

"Quite a lot, actually," I said seriously, hopping over the windowsill.

His smile vanished, growling something to Richie under his breath. The lion started to move again as did I, having much more advantage to utilize the space with enhanced effectiveness.

I latched onto roof to roof to evade their attacks, then, swinging myself up, I landed on Richie's back, right behind Mohji. He gasped in surprise. I already had a hand around his neck, gripping hard so I could throw him off properly. Wherever he landed I didn't really care, because Richie was the dangerous one. And thankfully enough, the stupid one too. After about ten seconds passed I realized that Richie didn't even notice Mohji got slugged off into a ditch.

Knowing this, I grabbed fistsfuls of his hair and jumped backwards off his back, tugging him with me. He yapped, prancing around in confusion. I kept my hold steady as I stretched and then snapped forward like a rocket for the third time in a row. This time, however, I didn't let go of Richie's hair, arching over him, landing flatly, and heaving that oversized cat over my head by using the force of my launch. Following through, Richie hit the ground with a loud, reverberating _thump!_ and sludged dirt all over the place.

I slumped over in relief, wiping any excess blood off with the ends of my vest. In doing that, I realized how lucky I was that all Luffy wore was red, or else I'd look like a hell of a murderer otherwise.

Anyways, I paced back up to the main field, not even surprised in the slightest that Cabaji was bleeding out, dead to the world. Zoro had his sash tied on his head and his swords were still out, aimed at Buggy no less. My arrival intercepted any fighting that may have occurred.

Buggy… didn't look too happy. I believe the only appropriate descriptor of his face shouldn't be anything _but _an apoplectic, mortally terrified, absolutely dejected jaw drop to rival the gods. It contrasted with the scornfully insipid glare Zoro and I were pinning him with.

He stumbled for his words for a second before steaming in anger. "Don't look at me like that! Especially you-" he pointed at me "-you straw hatted _bastard!_"

His words reminded me of _that _specific issue, so I took my hat off my head and wordlessly passed it to Zoro. I nodded my head off to some direction, and he backed away, holding my hat to his body for good measure. Then, I returned my emotionless stare back to Buggy.

"For a pirate, you sure hold on to your vendetta's longer than most," I said, letting a sly smile grace me. "Do I remind you of Red Haired that much? That's quite the compliment!"

He audibly choked, his expression somehow darkening even more.

"Of course!" he spat, "I should have known you were friends with that son of a bitch. You look just as infuriating as him!"

I shook my head. "That isn't my fault, you sleazeball. Look, I know you're not _that _bad of a person, considering you managed to get on _his _crew-" he flinched, "-but raiding a small town like this one isn't helping your case."

His rage settled somewhat, but I knew I was nowhere _near _safe. "Psh, like I need to be a good person! All I need is treasure and power, isn't that right, fake Red Haired?"

"Can't say I didn't try…" I sighed to myself. Then I started grinning, saying, "Alright you walking circus, why don't we go at it? Prove yourself. I can't guarantee you'll like the results."

"_You_ want to fight _me_? I think it's you who'll be regretting your actions here, cheap shot!"

And from there led to the last fight of the day.

**•**

Zoro decided to leave the premises as soon as the fight began underway. Luffy was wholly capable of defending himself, as shown to Zoro thus far, so there wasn't any huge need to get involved. He was more occupied with finding somewhere to slip a quick nap in anyways.

When he climbed down from the roof, though, he was met with that orange haired girl who didn't seem to like him very much. She herself was dragging a large bag that made an extravagant amount of noise, drugging up dirt. Their eyes met, but her eyes immediately narrowed, a grimace sliding on her lips like he was her arch nemesis.

"Oh, it's you," she bit out, "did you guys finish Buggy off already?"

Zoro pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Not yet. The crew was taken care of, but Buggy is fighting Luffy right now."

Her eyes scrolled up and she somewhat cringed at the freakshow taking place. Even Zoro had to admit this whole Devil Fruit thing was strange and confusing, but he didn't have a Devil Fruit so it wasn't his problem. It made his captain strong and immune to bullets; what more could you want after that?

Nami shook her head, then focused in on Luffy's hat. "Why do you have… _that?_"

Zoro held the hat up. "I dunno actually." He shrugged. "He gave it to me before he started fighting. Maybe he wanted to keep it safe."

"Tch. He's a damn weirdo," Nami said, continuing to drag the sack away. "And a freak. And a good for nothing."

"I'd suggest you not say that in front of me," Zoro threatened, following Nami into a hiding spot.

Nami spun around and glared at him. "Or what, _pirate_? You've known him for less than a _day_, you can't be getting protective of him already!"

Zoro didn't even flinch. "You don't seem to have known him for long either, _thief_. He saved my life and he's my captain. It'd be shameful of me to let you disrespect him."

She bit her lip but didn't give a response, simply slumping down on the ground and leaning against the wall. Zoro did the same, leaning against the opposite wall and placing Luffy's hat adjacent to him. The air was thick with unrelieved tension, suffocating them with vitriol as a battle raged on in the background. The swordsman eventually crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.

The slightest of breezes swept pass them, the sounds of the battle grew more distant, and the sun gently pressed its warmth onto his eyelids. All of this, yet for the life of him, he just couldn't fall asleep. Maybe it was because of that woman, or maybe it was because of what she said. After all… a "good for nothing"? With that kind of attitude, how did Luffy manage to tolerate her at all, let alone let her travel with them? Oh well, if she had some personal vendetta, it wasn't any of his business until it endangered his life or his captain's life.

She had her goals and he had his goals. Luffy's goal required them both. It wasn't hard to balance being loyal and being independent, but Nami clearly didn't see that. She was likely going to leave the crew if she got a chance.

Zoro sighed. What a shame for his captain. What a shame.

•

"Yikes!" I yelped, hopping backwards a little too late. A small stinging sensation grew on the right side of my chin.

I was having a hard time fighting Buggy after he whipped out his knives, not knowing how to fight back without causing too much property damage.

The wind picked up as Buggy lurched forward. My eyes were trying to focus on multiple things at once: Buggy's body, Buggy's hands, my own hands, and where I was stepping. It was like a cursed version of Dance Dance Revolution with a bad case of homicide.

My body clenched up as Buggy's bladed hands swooped towards me, suddenly taking a 90° change of direction upwards. In my confusion, I foolishly turned my head towards the sky, only for Buggy's other hand to clasp my open neck and shoot me over the roof. I gagged when I tried to pull him off of me. My legs dangled in the air before I was pummeled into a wall spine first.

There was a stunned screech that followed my decent, but the ringing in my ears drowned everything out. I had to force myself to my knees. Thrumming pain coursed in my throat since it was violently squeezed and I coughed.

Groaning, I registered Zoro and Nami surrounding me as I stood up.

"What the hell happened?!" Nami asked. Her eyes were wide.

I shook my head. "We can chat _after _I've taken out Buggy," I said, pushing past the two with a wince.

Buggy stood at the edge of the roof, the sun behind him shadowing his dark expression. My arm instinctually rose in front of Nami. He was likely going to target her if I got distracted, so I'd put a barrier between him and her before he got the chance. Even if his anger caused him to be more preoccupied with me, I wasn't going to put my crewmates in danger because I wasn't paying attention. Nami was backing up on her own anyway.

"Do you think you can come here, beat up my crew, steal my treasure, and walk away like nothing happened?" Buggy grit.

I took a few steps forward. "Don't act like care about what happens to your followers," I said with a hint of annoyance. "I said you weren't that bad of a person, but I'm not an idiot. You wasted your potential on greed!"

His scowl turned into a manic grin. "Clever guy, now aren't you? _I _wasn't the one who wasted my '_potential_' all those years ago. My greed is what's going to get me money, and money means power!" He tapped one of his knives. "Everyone wants power, don't you?"

"I want you to shut the hell up, is what I want," I retaliated, pulling out the small blade I was still holding on to.

I wanted to fight with only my powers so that I could get used to hand-to-hand combat, however, it was too much of a risk. I was doing well enough so far, but it was already strikingly obvious I was having a hard time keeping up with the battle. My clumsy self could easily make one misstep and then I'd be dead.

His legs detached from his feet and he flew towards me. Both Nami and Zoro backed away while I held the knife in front of me to avoid getting diced up. My sandals skid across the ground from the force, but I managed to keep myself up right. Then, I pushed Buggy backwards and grabbed onto his ponytail, making him jolt. He wasn't fully deterred.

My jaw clenched when Buggy shoved one of his knives into my shoulder. Blood streaked across my arm. The pain made my eyes water. But, I kept my hold fixed with my fingers tangling into his hair. I didn't dare let go. He screamed as I started swinging him around, trying to split apart to avoid damage, but I don't think there was much he could do when I rammed his head into a wall, putting a dent into it.

Buggy gurgled in pain. To my surprise, he got back up and put himself back together like I _didn't _just slam his skull into hard stone.

_'I'm starting to think I've bit off more than I can chew…' _I thought. The grip on my blade was slippery from sweat and blood. I was holding on tight enough for my nails to dig into my palms.

My opponent only snarled at me before he split his hands off his arms, putting me back on defense. His tactics became clear as soon as I was pressured backwards away from him. He _knew_ I wasn't comfortable using my powers for long distance combat and preferred using strange and alternate close combat methods instead. If I couldn't get close to him, well, there went most of my move set just like that! Launching myself at him would be too predictable since I already did it like, three times today.

In the end, I decided to thwack away Buggy's hand, duck down, and charge at his body. My arms stretched backwards like I was going to hit him with Bazooka, but I pulled a fast one by instead stopping dead in front of him and changing the direction of my hands to uppercut him. The hands that were following me fumbled before they could hit me, giving me one last opening.

I grabbed his hands out of the air and placed them onto the ground. It may have been cold hearted of me, but I drove my knife through both hands and pinned them into the dirt. Buggy howled from across the road.

My hands, at this point, were stained in red. I stood up and walked over to Buggy, holding him up by his shirt.

"Money can't save you from _this_."

His eyes grew wide and dilated with fear as my left arm stretched back for three slow seconds, before snapping forward in less than half a second. My fist bashed into the middle of his face and I felt his nose crunch into my knuckles. When I let go, his body careened into the air. He landed with a lifeless thunk.

My legs gave out and I crashed to my knees, letting out a long breath.

"I-Is it over?" Nami asked, poking her head out from behind a wall.

I smiled and waved her to me. "Yeah, it's over! Buggy should be out now, don't worry."

She came out, dragging her bag of gold with her and stopped in front of me. Zoro did the same, eyebrows raised. "Are you okay?" he questioned. "You've got quite a lot of blood on your hands."

I shrugged, wiping my hands on my vest. "Eh, just slap a bandaid on me and I'll be okay. That could've gone worse."

He huffed and rolled his eyes, placing my hat back on my head. I was going to readjust it, but considering how dirty my hands were, I decided to wait until I could wash them off.

I hummed as I stood up, thinking about how we could clean this mess. The Buggy pirates would no longer be an issue if I removed them from their captain. They were all pretty beat to shreds, so there wasn't any need to tie them up, but…

Aha! Now _there_'s an idea.

"Zoro, that weird cage thing wasn't destroyed or anything, right?"

He nodded.

"Perfect. Nami, do you have any rope on hand?"

She pulled out some rope from god knows where and looked at me quizzically.

"Alrighty then! Could you please tie up Buggy? We can stick him into the cage," I requested. "This village just got 15 million beri for free!"

Zoro and Nami looked at each other before shrugging and getting to work.

The sun overhead had crossed half the sky by the time we wrapped Buggy up, stuck him in the cage, and piled the Buggy pirates into their base. Zoro and I carried Buggy's cage back to the center of the village and Nami was still carrying her bag of gold. She seemed _mighty_ happy now that she got some fat stacks and a map, _but _I wasn't going to harp her on that. The only thing stopping this from being a perfect conclusion was my arm pulsing with pain every now and then. Buggy must have gotten me pretty good. Plus, I _think_ I accidentally tore something when I heaved the cage up that first time.

When we reached the edge of the town, the Mayor happened to be outside of the shop with Chouchou. I thought he had a heart attack when he suddenly stopped and dropped the box of dog food, but Chouchou snapped him out of it.

We placed the cage down and I patted the top with a cheshire like grin. He asked us many questions but I simply brushed them off. _It was no problem _or _don't worry about it_. He did get me a bandage or two for my arm and helped me wash off, griping about how I was careless and a fool for fighting Buggy. I washed my blade off as well.

My heart almost leapt out of my chest when Chouchou jumped at me, nuzzling his head into my hand.

"I think Chouchou thanks you too," Mayor Boodle laughed.

I leaned back and smiled, scratching Chouchou behind his ears. "You're _very _welcome," I said, giggling at the dog's wagging tail.

Nami came over and stroked at Chouchou's fur too. She had a faint smile on her face. It was different from her money-loving smiles or her sarcastic smiles, and I caught myself staring when she glanced up at me. I directed my gaze back at Mayor Boodle.

"We're gonna head out soon. Take care of your town now," I said.

"Psh, they don't _need_ to be taken care of."

We said our goodbyes and made our way back to the shore. The uncomfortable silence from earlier wasn't uncomfortable anymore. Instead, it felt more like a lapse of secure quietude. I believed we were making great progress on our companionship already, even if I was aware there was still a long ways to go. I didn't really care if Nami, or maybe even Zoro, didn't fully trust me yet, because all I needed to do was trust _them. _And I did. Fully.

I started humming as we loaded the gold onto the boats and pressed my palms against the warm wood. Nami raised an eyebrow at my jovial tune, untying the ropes from the deck.

"I take it you think that went well?" Nami asked, leaning against the bag.

I paused my humming and smiled. "A little rough around the edges, but yeah. I'd say it did. What about you?"

She perked up, maybe because she didn't expect it and tapped her cheek. "I think it went pretty well too." Then she turned away. "But, uh, I also want to properly apologize for snapping at you yesterday. You're really not as bad as I thought you were."

My mouth nearly dropped open. Where had _this _come from? I looked towards Zoro for an answer but he was already half asleep, and while I knew Nami had been quite subdued since yesterday morning, this was an unexpected turn of events.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Thank you, but you don't need to apologize. It was _my_ fault for not telling you about me being a pirate," I said.

She frowned. "But it was _my _fault for getting angry. I knew you for only an hour before judging you!"

"Except it's _my _fault for being sassy and not getting straight to the point."

"Just let me apologize god damnit!"

We stopped and stared at each other for a moment before breaking into a giggling fit.

I swore to myself, right then, to protect these little moments with my life.

**[Heyo! Not to interrupt, but I'd like to say thanks for all the support already! You guys are very flattering and encouraging, and also pretty thought provoking.]**

**[I'd like to mention I'm sorry if updates come out at a wacky pace, as right now it's exam season and then a bunch of holidays, but it should even out by mid January. It was kinda dumb of me to start this project during exam times but oh well, I was pretty impatient. Like it says in the story summary: with no pain, there just ain't no gain] **

**[[**_**Chapter title from the song "Star of the Show" by GHOST**_**]] **


	4. Vanity

**Chapter 4: Vanity**

* * *

The moon glimmered in my vision. Daylight had escaped us about an hour ago and filling the skies were droplets of light. My body felt heavy, my eyes were watery with exhaustion, and my mind was drifting in that strange half-dream state right before you fall asleep.

See, I would have fallen asleep as soon as the sun had set, but the guilt I felt from sleeping early last night kept me awake. If I had it my way, I would get rid of the sleepy haze in an instant. Not only that, but Nami told us we weren't far from the Gecko Islands. We could find a place to stay there and all would be well. What I didn't tell her was that if I had to wait any more than ten minutes, I would go unconscious whether she wanted me to or not. Zoro was ahead of the game in that regard. He tapped out ages ago.

The island's shore breeze was warm and soft, lulling me into a calm trance. All of us, including Nami, walked slow with no distress through the trodden paths. The island was hushed, but unlike with Orange town— in which it's noiseless streets were unsettling— the silence was far more tranquil. This only applied to the rural side anyway, because the village was surprisingly abuzz with conversation and mellow lantern light. The first house had a group of friends sitting outside giving a toast.

I leaned in to Zoro and Nami. "You think we should ask around for a place to stay?"

"We don't have many other options," Zoro said. That was good enough for me.

Walking up to the group— probably in their twenties, they looked like One Piece versions of college sorority girls and fraternity boys— they paused their conversation to look at us. I tried to manage a smile.

"Hey there! We're travelers and we were wondering if there was any place to stay the night? Today was a rough day," I explained.

Many of them looked at each other and hummed. One of the women with a bottle in her hand shook her head, giving me a small frown.

"'fraid not. We don't get many visitors in these parts so you'll have to forgive us for not having any inns."

Another man leaned against the railing. "Yeah, sorry about that," he sighed, "but maybe you could ask around. Someone's bound to have room somewhere in this town."

My smile lessened some and the others frowned. Waving them goodbye and wishing them a good night, I suddenly didn't feel too hot about walking through this friendly town. We continued through the village with small grimaces, realizing within every person we talked to that finding a temporary home to stay in wouldn't be easy. Most people either didn't have the room to house three extra people or they expressed worry about letting strangers stay over. Of course, anybody who wasn't awake was off the table too. Our options dwindled as we neared the edge of the village.

Our last hope sat on a rosy porch, weaving flowers into a hat. She didn't notice our approach until we spoke up. I asked the same thing to her, if there was any place to stay for the night. Her weaving slowed while she thought and then explained that she sadly wasn't available. However, she _did_ say that there was a boy a little ways away who may have the space for us.

We paced away from the village, back into the naturally moon-lit path. Within another five to ten silent minutes, a small house came into view. There were hardly any decorations or trees surrounding it. Hell, there was hardly any living grass on the lawn once we got up there, so I suppose gardening wasn't exactly one of Usopp's strong suits. The lights, unlike most of the houses in the village, were off, but we had to try.

I took a deep breath in and knocked on the door.

"Just a second!" a voice rang out. I heard a bang, a crash, and an "ouch!" all in that order before the door clicked and opened, revealing Usopp half dressed for bed.

Usopp stood silent for a moment. "O-oh, well, hello!" he said, eyes rapidly shifting between us, "are you new here?"

I nodded. "We were hoping you had some extra room for us to stay the night. We're travelers and nobody else in town could house us."

He turned away briefly, looking into his house, then turned back to us, tight lipped. "Of course!" he exclaimed, "th-the great captain Usopp is always willing to help others out!" He then opened the door.

We walked in with great doubt that there'd actually be enough room to comfortably house us. There was only one bed, for starters, and probably only one or two spares of pillows and blankets. It didn't look like there was any pantries or place to store food, so we'd have to go someplace else for breakfast, and it seemed most of what Usopp owned were clothes and random tools. There were a few books on the shelves and a couple of picture frames on the wall with Usopp and his mother— even one with his father— but looking at that made me sad, so I looked away.

Instead, I padded towards Usopp and smirked. As he gave Nami and Zoro what bedding material he had, he raised his eyebrow at me.

"So" I started, "captain Usopp, right? Are you a pirate?"

Dropping the pillow in his hand, his eyes widened. "W-Wh... Why, yes I am! I'm captain of the Usopp pirates! I have eight thousand followers under my command! I'm sure you've heard of me."

Nami placed her items down near the wall and turned towards us. "A pirate captain with eight thousand members? That's obviously a lie!"

Usopp's face fell and he sulked. "How'd you know?"

I coughed into my hand to hide my laughter while Nami and Usopp exchanged banter. In that, I realized we were short in pillows and blankets. Since Nami was hoarding her items, Zoro and I were forced to lean against the wall, wrapped up in a shared blanket. The world slowed and quieted, letting the warmth finally guide me to sleep like I had been waiting for the entire day. Zoro's heartbeat was the last thing I heard before I tapped out...

•

...and the first thing I heard when I woke up.

I only blinked a few times before my vision cleared and my senses started up again. The light flooding in made me squint involuntarily while I gathered myself, remembering where I was and what was going on. Usopp's bed was disconcertingly empty, causing me to slip out of the blanket cocoon I was wrapped up in to pace towards the door so that I wouldn't wake the other two.

Slipping on my sandals, I reached for the door handle only to realize the door was already open. I nudged the door open a crack more to peer around the corner. Usopp was reclined against the wall. His arm was shoved into his satchel, rummaging through and producing a large amount of noise. He was quite so invested in his actions that he didn't even _notice_ my presence until I bent down next to him and tapped his shoulder. Then I got a frying pan to the face. A cast-iron frying pan to the face.

"A-ah, sorry Luffy, I didn't know you were up" Usopp said, putting down his frying pan.

I sourly smiled and rubbed my nose before shaking my head clear. "'s'alright, I think I might have forgotten I was up too. _But_ whatever, what're ya doing?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, frowning. "I'm going to see someone named Kaya. She lives in the mansion up the hill but the guards that live up there don't like me, so I was checking to see if I had my slingshot and Lead Stars to protect myself, just in case."

"Those guards oughta be real assholes if you have to bring weapons just to talk to someone," I said, mimicking his frown. "I mean, you don't seem like a bad person, so what do they have against you?"

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck again. "I'm a bit of liar— more than a bit. And my father is a pirate who left the village a long time ago."

"I _thought_ you looked familiar, you've got to be Yasopp's son!" I exclaimed in attempt to change the subject.

His jaw dropped and he no longer appeared downtrodden, only shocked. "You know my dad?!" he bellowed, waving his arms out. "Some people don't even know I _have_ a dad!"

"Well, I haven't seen him in like, forever. Last I knew, he was riding on Shank's ship, so your dad is _kind _of a big shot," I said. His eyes bugged despite the way I casually delivered the words, as if I was the one lying this time. While, yes, I never met Yasopp directly and probably wouldn't for a long time, I had no reason to believe he wasn't on Shank's crew in this universe. I'd have to start worrying about the consistency of this timeline if that were the case.

"That's amazing! I can't believe my dad's on a Yonko's crew! I... I can't believe you met Shanks." Then he paused. "You're a pirate too, right?"

I nodded and rocked back and forth. "Yep! In fact, I'm gonna be the pirate king," I said, sticking my tongue out.

Usopp made to respond, but we were interrupted by Zoro opening the door and looking at us. He probably just woke up, because he had a _strong_ bitch face, some bedhead, and a trail of dried drool on his mouth he only half cleaned off. I heard the grass shuffle as Usopp deflated behind me, especially when Zoro walked towards us.

"There you are," he huffed out. "You got any food in this house, long nose?"

Said long nose peeked out over my shoulder and shook his head. "N-no. There's a restaurant down town, but I was planning on going somewhere else this morning."

I turned to face Usopp with a thoughtful hum. Then I tapped his nose and said, "we could always take the food with us and go with you. I wanna meet this Kaya person! Maybe we could bring her some breakfast."

The proposition startled them both at first, but Usopp came to think it wasn't such a bad idea. We went to get all our things ready; waking up Nami, stretching and getting dressed, and walking back down to the heart of the village. The experience was just as pleasant during the day as the night. There _were_, however, more people out, and therefore more people asking about us and why Usopp wasn't running down the streets screaming about pirates. At least the restaurant owners didn't question anything and shoved the food our way so we could hightail it to Kaya's place.

And Kaya's place was a beautiful sight to behold. It reminded me vividly of the mansions in Charleston, with the multicolored flora and matte black gates. Even the bushes Usopp led us through were trimmed perfectly. The beauty certainly didn't distract from the uppity vibe, but fine decor aside, Usopp's mood seemed to have improved as soon as he saw Kaya's window.

With one rock thrown, Usopp and I climbed the tree. The window opened in mere moments, displaying Kaya in all her sickly glory.

"Usopp-san?"

"Hey Kaya!" Usopp greeted. "I brought some new friends over. They're pirates just like me!"

Her eyes lit up and she leaned over the windowsill, taking a look at Zoro and Nami. She said, "What? Really?"

"Really really," I confirmed. Then I waved to Zoro, who held out the bagged food for me to grab. "We brought you some food since Usopp said you liked it."

I handed the bag to Usopp who handed it to Kaya. Her pale face grew a rosy tint as she took the food and smiled. From there, the introductions went on with no trouble. We told her about the few adventures we've had so far, entertaining both Usopp and Kaya, and made ourselves more familiar with the two. Kaya herself was sweet. Maybe a little naive, but her vitality was there, so I understood why Usopp enjoyed coming over other than to just simply cheer her up. I found it both funny and sad that Kaya liked the villager's food more than the stuff served to her because her food was normally so bland. The cooks only cooked "safe" things due to her condition, so when she ate anything else, it felt like a delicacy. It spoke on behalf on how boring other parts of her life could be.

The whole time, though, I was anticipating something bad to happen, like Kuro popping up out of the blue and making a fuss... but that didn't happen. Nothing happened. We talked, we left, and I was pulled somewhat out of my element; almost as if, subconsciously, I was_ still_ afraid about changing canon. I redirected my thoughts instead.

"So Usopp," I said, after we were a ways away from the mansion, "is there, uh, any _other _interesting places on the island you could show us? We saw most of the village last night but we didn't do much exploring."

He hummed, pressing a finger to his nose. "I suppose there isn't much to see, but I could show you the cliff side! I usually go there to think about things, but it _is_ pretty, especially at sunset."

After that, we started walking all the way the opposite direction of Kaya's mansion to the shore cliffs. Specifically, the cliff that we could watch Kuro spill the beans to Jango on. Along the way, we ran into the "Usopp Pirates"— Carrot, Onion, and Pepper—and they joined us on the ride. Zoro practically pretended they didn't exist, but I didn't mind their company all too much since they resembled my brothers in personality. By the time twenty minutes passed, we were at the shore cliff; the breeze picked up and the sky was cloudless, quiet.

The anticipation caused me to become a silent observer of the conversation between everybody else. They hadn't need my input, so I sat near the edge of the cliff. That way, when I caught movement in the corner of my eye, I could scramble backwards to hush everybody up.

"What's going on?" Onion whispered. The others huddled next to him.

I pointed towards the ground below, where Kuro and Jango came into hearing range. Having not seen either of them yet, making out their features was a little difficult, but Usopp seemed to have no trouble recognizing "Klahadore" from atop the cliff. His face went from joyful to scornful in seconds.

"That's one of Kaya's butlers or whatever, Klahadore," Usopp said, furrowing his eyebrows. "I don't know what he's doing here, because he's almost always with Kaya or at the mansion."

Nami knelt down besides us to listen in as well and squinted. "That one in the glasses looks a little strange, is he a butler too?"

Usopp shook his head. "Never seen him."

We all quieted to eavesdrop, straining our ears to make sure we were hearing correctly. At first, they were so faint we could only hear a couple of words, but then they got louder.

"Wait, so _why_ am I here again?" Jango asked. "Can't you just kill her if you wanted to?"

Kuro sighed and pushed his glasses up in that weird way. "No, I _can't_ just kill her if I wanted to. You need to hypnotize her into giving up her fortune in her will so that it all goes to me! This is an assassination, not a mindless murder!"

I glanced over to Usopp, biting my tongue. His lips were drawn in a tight line, his eyes were wide, and his hands were shaking as he gripped at the grass. At that point, I stopped focusing on Kuro's conversation, since everything sounded exactly the same. I only focused on how Usopp's eyes honed in on Kuro like a laser pointer. Another gust of wind blew past, sweeping his curly hair out of the way so I could see the sweat rolling down his face and how his shoulders continued to tense up. He was transfixed.

As Kuro and Jango walked away, we all sat, paralyzed, letting their words sink in. That was, until, Usopp shot up and startled the stars out of me.

"What are you all doing!? We have to go tell Kaya and the village about this, they're all going to die!" he screamed.

A sharp pang shot through my heart and I hastened myself to my feet, grabbing his shoulder. I could feel him tense up still.

"Wait! Let's think this through," I said with strain, "it wouldn't be good to rush into this!"

He didn't calm down, still shaking and shifting his gaze between me and the others. Another sharp pang shot through me when he shrugged my hand off and shook his head.

"Why shouldn't we tell them as soon as possible?! Kaya could be _killed_ any minute!" He then pointed at me. "I know you're all new here, but the townspeople are my life! I can't watch them all die!"

"But wouldn't that cause panic?" Nami cut in. "Kuro has a whole crew of blood thirsty pirates coming here, and having the townspeople run amok would only make it harder for you to protect them. Acting crazy about this isn't going to help you"

"She's right." I scowled and held my hands out. "You... you said yourself we're outsiders and that you're a known liar, so why would any of them have to trust our word? The only person I could see believing us is Kaya, but then we'd put her in more danger than before." My frown deepened. "Besides, this Kuro person is no joke, he was a pretty infamous pirate back in the day. He could easily brutalize the whole town _by himself _if he got wind of us trying to ruin his plans."

Zoro tapped his blades, getting me to turn around to see his grimace. "From what I remember, he had a 16 million beri bounty. I heard rumor he was captured a while ago, but I guess that wasn't the case, and instead he's been hiding here. I don't know much about him other than that," he informed.

With all of us dog-piling him with information like that, Usopp was immobilized in thought. For a moment, I thought he was going to run, but then his his tightened features sagged, and he curled in on himself, eyes shining with fresh tears. This time, a deep throb made my heart ache. People crying made me really uncomfortable. But people crying usually meant they were feeling_ really_ shitty. I shuffled over to him and cradled his arms, getting him to face me so I could pep talk him better. His long eyelashes collected the tears.

"Hey, hey," I soothed, "I didn't say we _weren't_ going to help you. We still have plenty of time to think this out, alright?"

He blinked a few times and I continued. "Look, we have the advantage! Kuro doesn't know we're here, so if we tell Kaya about this and she believes us, we can deal with him then and there. If she doesn't, then we'll just deal with him in the morning, and it'll be _fine_ okay?"

Once again, he blinked a few times, but then he sniffed and nodded. I gave him a smile for reassurance and patted him on the back and in seconds he wiped away his tears, grinning to the rest of the crew. There was a good second of relief, until I faced my crew. They all stared at me like I performed a magic trick.

"What?"

"Are you like, secretly a huge softy or something?" Nami questioned, completely serious.

I gave her a weak chuckle. "No? I can kick ass _and_ provide emotional support at the same time, the two aren't mutually exclusive"

"You said the same kinda thing with that dog at Orange Town," Zoro teased, getting him a certain rude gesture in response. Usopp and the kids seemed to think it was funny, making me roll my eyes. At least the tension was mitigated enough for us to all think clearly.

We decided (with no small tweaks at my suggestion) to keep Onion, Pepper, and Carrot away from the pirates and from us, unless they needed to warn us of something. Telling Kaya the truth wasn't a guarantee she'd believe us, but the odds were stacked in our favor. The villagers, on the other hand, were probably going to be more trouble than what it'd be worth, so they'd be left in the dark. Worst case scenario for the crew was basically my fail safe: canon. I_ did_ assure Usopp that no matter what happened, Kuro and his crew would be getting their asses handed to them.

All we had to do was _talk._

_•_

Kaya laid in bed. That's all she ever really did nowadays. There were times she could go out with Klahadore or she'd study some medical textbooks that Merry gifted her every so often, but those times seemed to get rarer. Usopp was often the one who made her happiest, because with someone as lonely as her, anybody new to hang out with was a gift. And even then, Klahadore and the others didn't approve. They saw him as a delinquent. On some days, she could see how that projected image of him impacted his self esteem; he didn't crack as many jokes or didn't reference being a pirate as much.

But today he seemed particularly happy, bringing over those real pirates and hearing about their stories. She was amazed! They sounded just like Usopp's stories, and yet they were definitely real. The red vest one— Luffy— he couldn't have faked his powers, now could he?

Kaya got up to get a drink of water, but her window rattled and surprised her. Usopp was back again?

She rushed over to the window and threw it open, gazing at her best friend sitting in the tree. Not only him though, Luffy was also back, and down at the base of the tree were Nami and Zoro. All four of them were stoic, not even a hint of mirth glazed on their faces like that morning. She was confused but also concerned.

"What's going on?" She asked, voice already unsteady.

Usopp swallowed and scowled. "Kaya, we need to tell you something. It's about K-Klahadore... he's a pirate."

She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, saying, "what are you talking about?"

"_Kaya_," Luffy broke in, making her flinch, "we're not lying, we're not joking. You're in serious danger right now, Klahadore isn't who you think he is and we don't want you to get hurt. We need you to leave with us."

This time, she backed away from the windowsill; eyes burning, face heating up, and throat constricting. Her chest started to hurt as her breathing grew uneven and yet she was still so confused. Luffy remained calm. _Usopp_ remained calm. They were serious, weren't they?

"I-I don't... that can't be true. Klahadore isn't a bad man! Why are you saying these things?!"

Usopp inched closer and her heartbeat quickened, taking a few more steps back. He said a few words, but she couldn't pay attention as her mind reeled and tears spilled out of her eyes. She felt nauseated with fear. All around her, the world began to slip away, yet Usopp kept talking, holding his hand out to her. Luffy nodded along, with his shifty eyes occasionally glancing past her head, behind her. Like he was waiting. Like they were both so desperate.

Kaya's heart nearly sprung out of her chest when she heard the door click and swing open. Her body turned in slow motion, eyes widening.

"Klaha-"

"Kuro?!"

Whipping her head around, she looked at Luffy, who had his hands slapped over his mouth. Sweat poured down his face and Usopp was twitching in place.

When she turned back towards Klahadore, his jaw was clenched. "What is the meaning of this? What are they doing to you?!"

"I— they're not doing anything-!" she stammered, mind continuing to reel.

"Nonsense!" he hollered. "Your complexion is completely off! Get over here before they do some harm to you."

This time, she backed away from him, a sudden spike of dubiety piercing her mind. Klahadore continued to call for her while Usopp and Luffy persisted in getting her to run with them. Eventually, they began to yell at each other, but she hardly noticed the shouting match over the pain of her head pounding. She slightly flinched when she realized she backed all the way towards the window, pushing her sweaty palms against the cold windowsill to stay upright.

In a haze, the shouting abruptly stopped with something Luffy said. Klahadore— that blurry, dark figure across the bright room— disappeared behind the door. Luffy shot off past her, following his lead, and she felt warm arms wrap around her.

Her feet lifted off the ground. She blanked.

•

As soon as Kuro turned tail, I told Usopp to grab Kaya and run with Zoro and Nami, throwing my hat down to them.

I bounded off the tree branch and leaped into Kaya's room, bolting past doors and down flights of staircases to keep up with Kuro. With all the fancy decor, it was difficult to keep from smashing into things and wrecking the place— including trying not to run over the bewildered residents who were cleaning or cooking. Unfortunately, I lost sight of Kuro halfway through. I caught my breath, standing in a spacious room with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a few more familiar objects.

Kuro was no doubt getting his cat claws, and I wouldn't be able to prevent him from getting them now. I just hoped he'd come back before the guards showed up or else they'd be put in harms way. Kuro was arguably the first villain of the series that gave the crew some serious trouble, especially with his Shakushi attack. Fighting indoors was already a questionable move, but fighting indoors with innocent people nearby was a bad one.

In the deafening silence of anticipation, the door across the room nudged open and out stepped Kuro, cat claws already equipped. His walk resembled that of cautious cat.

"You're quite cunning, aren't you?" he said.

I lowered my gaze. "What a compliment, coming from someone like _you_," I scorned.

He adjusted his glasses and smirked at me, making me snarl back. "I must say you've done well for yourself to catch me off guard, but it's the end of the line for you. I'll complete my mission no matter how much you claim you'll stop me."

"I'd like to see you try."

In the blink of an eye, Kuro went from across the room to almost slicing me in half. I rolled along the floor and pounced under the table, kicking it up in the air to block his attacks. While he was momentarily distracted, I kicked the window and shattered a hole for me to jump out of, but he had recuperated in that time and forced me away from the window. I kept my eyes locked onto his claws. We cascaded about the room and practically destroyed it, until I finally managed to jump out the window into the grass.

Kuro followed me in hot pursuit. As he landed, I revved up an attack and uppercut him in the jaw. He landed flat on the grass and spluttered blood, but I didn't wait for him to recover, launching myself in the air to slam down on him with my feet.

The second before I landed, however, he raised his cat claws in defense and my attack failed. I was sent skidding along the dirt. Before I could recover, I was kicked into the wall face first; I dropped to the ground pressing my hands to my stinging eyes and tasting the blood trickle from my split lip. Though my vision was blurred, I registered Kuro coming at me once more and I hopped to my stumbling feet, watching him slice into the wall. I would have gotten another hit on him, but he dodged and swung his blades, scraping my collarbones.

We both jumped away from each other. My hands trembled as I grasped my wounds— warm, slick blood sliding down my chest. He wiped his own blood from his mouth, looking down at me kneeling on the ground.

"Why are getting involved with this island's affairs?" he suddenly asked. "I had not the slightest idea you existed until just now, and yet you're fending for these strangers?"

I shook my head and narrowed my eyes. "They're not strangers to me, but that doesn't matter. I'm not going to let some arrogant _prick _like you kill a bunch of people because you're a coward."

He raised his eyebrows. "A coward? Those are bold statements, boy. Who do you think you are?"

"I'm a pirate," I said, rising to my feet and wiping off my shaking hands, "and unlike you, I'm not ashamed of that. Get with the program, Kuro."

He chuckled for a second before scowling, glaring at me with this strange hatred. I saw, deep in his dark eyes, an intelligent man who was taken by his own ego and lack of empathy. How unfortunate it was.

Only a few more moments passed before he lunged at me. I dodged and catapulted myself over the bushes, out of the area and away from the mansion. Kuro sliced his way through the bushes, towards me, making me duck and reach out for his leg. He nipped my arm as I pulled him up into the air and tried to swing him into the ground, but he latched onto my arm and spun himself out of my grip. We tousled for some minutes, realizing both of us were getting nowhere.

Eventually, he jumped away from me and closed his eyes. I was perplexed until I saw his shuffling movement, causing an immediate panic to shoot through my nerves. The Shakushi attack wasn't _nearly_ as deadly with only me here, but that didn't take away from the fact I'd be fucked if I let him go through with it!

The only problem was... by the time I got myself ready, I blinked and he was _gone. _

A strong breeze left in his wake, sweeping through the empty field and through the rustling grass. I tried my best to detect his movements, but every time his form flashed in the corner of my eye, he vanished, leaving a carved marker of his presence. Then, when I turned around, a faded figure consumed my vision and a wave of pain surged up my face, knocking me backwards.

"Fuck!" I howled, squeezing my watering eyes shut.

Kuro sliced my face up right open, just nearly missing my eyes by a fraction. I felt blood pour down over my right eyelid and over my lips; it stuck to my eyelashes and made it difficult to see. But, it wasn't over. He got me one more time on the back before my adrenaline and pain crazed mind drove me to stand up. As he slowed, I body slammed him into the ground, wrapping my legs around his torso.

With one eye shut, I saw him squirm under me. I kept his wrists pinned down so he couldn't cut into me and I slowed my breathing, blood dripping off my chin onto his dirtied suit.

Kuro frowned. "What do you think you're accomplishing with this?"

I didn't respond, merely tightening the grip on his wrists. The anger on his face angered me.

"Have you given up?"

My heartbeat started up again as I tightened and tightened and tightened. I think he soon got the picture as he grit his teeth in pain and started to squirm again, but between my firm grasp and his weariness, he couldn't shove me off. Soon enough, my hands started shaking with how hard I was griping and he yelped in pain, a sonorous crack snapping me out of my violent trance. Kuro shoved me off, gripped his limp left arm, and growled at me.

"You absolute bastard! Can't you just die already?!" he roared.

I wiped the blood off my eye and gave him a blank stare. "If I die, they die. So no."

He pushed up his cracked glasses. "You're a pirate," he spat, "not a savior or hero. What do you care what happens to them?"

"I never said I was a hero, I don't want to be, I don't really need to be. I doubt I'll ever be a hero." I wiped more blood off my face. "But these people are important to Usopp. What person would I be if I left them helpless?"

"I suppose there's a mentality here that I don't quite have" Kuro murmured. Then he got into stance. "A mentality that will be your downfall! Shakushi!"

He disappeared once more but I stood, almost tiredly, feeling the wind lap at my open cuts. This time I could see him in my peripherals more often, probably because he was low on energy and injured. Every time he came close I back-flipped or roll-jumped out out of the way. The pain throbbed down my body, but I willed myself to ignore it to the best of my ability so I didn't get injured even worse.

In the end, I punched him out of his downgraded version of soru, causing him to hobble backwards, holding his nose and shattered glasses. Amidst his pained squinting, he didn't see me stretching my arms back for Gomu-Gomu no Bazooka, and once he did, it was most certainly too late. My arms snapped forwards into his chest and as his eyes widened with the realization that he was completely screwed, flying off against the breeze and crashing into the walls of the mansion we had strayed from. His tiny speck of a body peeled off the wall and behind the bushes, where I'm sure the residents would find him rightfully defeated.

Yet, with all the proud triumph that coursed through my veins, the thrumming sting of _everything_ pressured me to my knees. My body tingled with excess adrenaline or perhaps the emotion. I took in a deep breath. Even if it hurt, I protected the village— and Kaya and Usopp, of course— successfully; I was learning. I wasn't a failure.

That didn't mean the job was done... _buuuuut_ it was pretty much done. The main baddie was already down so dealing with the Black Cat pirates wouldn't be an issue by any stretch of the imagination.

All I had to do now was meet back up with everybody else and get cleaned up.

•

"Hey guys! I'm back!"

I grinned as everybody turned around and rushed towards me, a range of expressions on all their faces. Zoro was mostly neutral as per usual, with a slight smirk, Nami appeared quite winded and distraught, Usopp was freaking out, and Kaya looked the most concerned, a frown shadowing her darling face.

"D-Did Klaha- I mean, Kuro... do this to you?" she whispered, pupils dilating.

My grin slipped, so I turned it into a bashful smile and rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah," I admitted, "but it's all okay. Kuro can't hurt anyone like this anymore, so that's all that matters. I'll get better in no time!"

She kept her puppy-dog eyes on me for another moment before looking away and nodding. I sighed in relief, Usopp then catching my attention by slapping his hand down on my shoulder and making me flinch. His eyes were also watering.

"Thank you so much. You guys didn't have to do any of that!" He wiped his eyes and gave me a wink. "Though if it were me, I could have totally beat Kuro too."

Nami rolled her eyes and removed his hand from my shoulder. "Yeah right, you were babbling non-stop ever since we left the mansion!" she said. She gave me a once over before handing my hat back over. "Be glad I was keeping it safe and not those other two."

"Hey!" Zoro grumbled, glaring at Nami, "Luffy gave me his hat last time and nothing happened to it, so what gives?!"

"And why am _I_ included?" Usopp spoke up.

I smiled as I heard Kaya start giggling behind Usopp. Their bickering carried on all the way to Usopp's house, where Kaya helped clean off my face and got all the blood out of my hair. I decided to wash my vest while I had the opportunity, since that poor thing was stained inside and out— not to mention the dried bodily fluids were starting to reek and make it all itchy. Thankfully, with a good scrub down and Nami patching up some of the tears, it was practically good as new. Not really. But it was either that or wear one of Usopp's extra pair of overalls; which in Nami's professional opinion apparently "couldn't look uglier on any other person." It was a pretty valid opinion.

Kaya left back to the mansion and we all crashed at Usopp's place for the night again. Once morning came, we all booked it to the shore to intercept the Black Cat pirates. It was possibly the _easiest_ task we did all week, since they stood no chance against all four of us and their captain was taken out of the picture before the picture was even conceived. The funniest part about it was Usopp being the biggest damage dealer next to _Zoro_. With the 90% of the threat gone, Usopp had _no_ hesitation about feeding the Black Cat's dirt until they got the memo and left in disappointment. Not before Nami managed to swipe their measly quantities of cash, of course.

And after shrugging them off, we went to check up on Kaya, who in turn said she wanted to give us a little gift. She and Merry led us around to the nearest shore where the Going Merry floated along the sudsy waves.

Ah, the Going Merry. She was a delightful work of art. Merry, the person, explained the mechanisms of the ship to Nami and I, however I only absorbed about a third of what he was saying, much too busy being awestruck. I went to explore as soon as I could, disbelieving the fact I was truly walking around on _the _Going Merry, my new home. Her woodwork was polished, the sails were pristine, the rooms felt cozy, and she was prepackaged with supplies for the journey. She was perfect. It was a perfection that, in the back of my mind, I had to give my life to.

Usopp was there exploring with me, actually. We discussed beforehand briefly about having him join the crew, but he gave me a vague answer. Seeing him prance around with a wide smile convinced me his answer has definitely changed. Although, the same happiness he radiated drew out a pinch of guilt as something that I'd have to deal with when we got there, far into the future.

"How about it?" I asked, walking to Usopp and leaning over the railing. "This ship is pretty damn cool, you can't deny."

He snickered and nodded. "No I can't. I have a feeling I'll be really happy here, but I'd probably be happier if I was the captain!"

"Not a chance, moron," I instantly rejected. He pouted and I giggled, patting him on the shoulder.

For a moment I thought he was going to walk away to see more of the ship, but instead he smiled and said, "I'm proud I'm going out to sea. I'm finally going to become a great warrior like I was always meant to be... all thanks to you and your crew!"

I flushed and shook my head. "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything! But... thank you." I held my hands out to give him a hug. "I'm sure you'll be a perfect part of our crew."

He embraced me and we headed off to explore the ship together. This was his home for as long as I could save it.

* * *

**[Yikes. 2020 kinda sucks so far] **


End file.
